Friday Inspiration: Grocery Store Roses

I love the look of garden roses and when I stumbled across these posts here and here on how to get cheap grocery story roses to look like garden roses I thought why not give it a try.

I purchased a half dozen roses at my local grocery store for just under $4. I forgot to take a before shot but all the rose buds were tightly closed. When I got them home I placed them in a vase with warm water for about an hour. The roses started to magically open up on their own but towards the end I gently placed my fingers inside to help them open up a bit more. Do this by making a pinching position with your hands and insert your hand inside the bud and gently open your fingers.

I found a small vase and began cutting the stems to size at a 45 degree angle under running water and then placed the cut flower immediately into a vase filled with water. This keeps air from going into the stems. (I snapped a quick pic of this flower before placing it in the vase)

Trim off any lower leaves to keep them from getting wet. This will keep the water in the vase cleaner/clearer longer. To keep your flowers looking good longer check out this article for 10 helpful tips.