Every so often, when you receive or purchase a bunch of roses, you can't bear to simply place them in a vase and allow them to wither and wilt away. But what can you do in this situation? Well, you can try preserving your roses, but even that's only a stop-gap measure because preserved roses eventually fade. But rooting them will give your cut roses new life. In a way, this may be considered as another method to preserve cut roses.
Rooting
Rooting is the process by which you take a cut rose and encourage it to put out roots and take hold of a new lease on life. You'll need a few items: a flower pot, potting soil, root starter, water, an empty one gallon jar and, of course, flower shears.
Roses
The process itself is relatively simple...first, select a rose which has at least two sets of leaves, but preferably more. Now, make sure that the one you choose is freshly cut. Rooting won't work if the rose has already begun to wilt.
Next, gently remove the petals from the rose. Cup your hand around the blossom and gently pull it away from the stem. You don't have to discard the blossom...think about all of the myriad uses for rose petals in cooking, aromatherapy and such. But remove it all the same. Now, do the same for the leaves, removing all of them except for the top two sets.
Once this is done, you'll need to fill a ten to twelve inch flowerpot with potting soil; enough to bury half of the rose stem. Trim any excess. Take the empty one gallon jar and place it carefully over the protruding rose stem. Make sure there is headroom for the rose stem; if not, trim it to fit. When the stem is the right height, dip the stem in root starter and place it back into the potting soil.
Pat the potting soil flat around the stem and pour a little water around it, making sure to get everything damp. Now, replace the one gallon jar, being careful not to damage the remaining leaves. Settle the open end of the jar into the potting soil. What this does is create a miniature terrarium for your rose, which will, if you're lucky, encourage its growth. You won't need to water it, as it will create its own moisture beneath the glass.
Place the whole set-up in a shady place, well-out of the direct sunlight and facing north. You don't want your rose to get sunlight - this is an important - as direct sunlight will scorch your rose and kill it. Let it sit for several months. If you see new leaves forming, you'll know you've been successful in rooting your rose. After that, you can transplant it to your garden.
Rooting roses can be a rewarding past-time, and a creative way of rescuing beautiful cut roses from eventual withering. While preservation is the more popular way of going about this, growing roses from cuttings can be very rewarding and will reproduce that beautiful rose plant that you enjoyed and admired so much can now become part of your garden.
Can Cut Roses Be Planted? Rooting Roses
Bob Leland is a Rose Growing enthusiast. Visit About The Care of Roses for more tips on how to preserve cut roses [http://www.aboutthecareofroses.com/CareCutRoses.xhtml].