Rose care: from tight bud to open bloom

When your roses arrive

Our flowers are packed in bud and shipped dry, so the stems can look a little tired when you open the box. Roses can look a little limp after their trip. Once they’re in water they perk up within 24 to 48 hours.

• Recut each stem at a 45 degree angle and get it into water straight away.
• Trim off the leaves below the waterline, minding the thorns as you go.
• Stand them in a clean vase of fresh water with your flower food.
• If the outermost petals look bruised or papery, gently peel away one or two. They are the guard petals that protect the bud, and the bloom underneath is usually fine.

Opening roses from bud

Rose buds open slowly, outer petals first, loosening and spreading a little more each day.

Some of our buds open as late as 72 hours after going into water, and our bouquets reach their full beauty around day 3 or 4.

Warmth speeds them up and a cooler room slows them down, so you can steer how quickly your roses open. Don’t pry the petals apart by hand: they bruise and tear, and a rose helped open rarely looks as good as one that opens on its own.

Spray roses carry several small buds on each stem. They open at different times, so snip off the finished blooms as you go and the buds behind them keep opening.

Keeping roses fresh

Roses are sensitive to bacteria in the water, so a clean vase makes the biggest difference.

• Rinse the vase with warm, soapy water before you start, and again each time you change the water.
• Change the water every couple of days, and check the level every day.
• At day 3 or 4, recut the stems, change the water and add the second pack of flower food.
• Keep the vase away from direct sunlight, heating vents and ripening fruit.

How long roses last

Cut roses usually last around five to seven days. Taken as a whole, a Bear’s Blooms bouquet lasts a full week and often up to two weeks with proper care and placement.

A rose goes from tight bud to open bloom to loosening petals over several days. When a bloom has had its time, remove it; the roses beside it are still opening. Some flowers last longer than others, so freshen up the arrangement by pruning the spent stems.

Common rose problems

Most rose problems come down to thirsty stems or a warm room.

• A drooping head, sometimes called a “bent neck”. The stem usually can’t drink. Recut it, stand it in deep, fresh water and wrap the roses loosely in paper for a few hours so the heads stay upright while they recover.
• Buds that won’t open. Check the stems are still drinking by recutting them and refilling the vase, and move the roses somewhere bright but out of direct sun. Remember that some buds open as late as 72 hours after going into water.
• Brown or papery outer petals. Peel off one or two. Heat and ripening fruit nearby can speed up browning.
• Petals dropping. A rose that has opened fully will start to drop its petals, which is the natural end of the bloom.

If your stems still aren’t responding as expected, email support@bearsblooms.com with a photo of your full bouquet as well as any individual stems.