I started immersing roses up to their necks in a deep vessel of water for a few hours and then arranging them in a vase. Much better life from them.

That is the major issue. As Vaporvac stated, once the stem is removed from water, an air bubble is drawn into the capillaries in the stem, halting the upward movement of water through the stem. To restart the water movement, you need to cut an inch to an inch and a half of the stem under water. Gently lift the stem from the water in which you have recut it and put it into another vase of clean water while the droplet of water hangs from the bottom of the newly recut stem. If you have ever siphoned water from one container to another or out of an aquarium to drain it, you know what is happening. You must eliminate the air drawn into the capillaries and restart that siphon so water continues to be drawn up the stem. To get the longest vase lift, you should recut the stems every few days, more frequently if you are changing the water and lifting the stems from the vase. Anything that exposes the cut ends to air can allow the siphon to be interrupted. I also don't use non rose material in a vase of roses because "fillers" begin rotting and fouling the water faster than rose stems do.

This is what I use.https://www.ebay.com/i/223787358225?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=223787358225&targetid=596843726158&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=9015721&poi=&campaignid=2086088343&mkgroupid=77258593596&rlsatarget=pla-596843726158&abcId=1141016&merchantid=8587394&gclid=CjwKCAiA9JbwBRAAEiwAnWa4Q_uRgJAy2Bb1hvsMXAYdK2p0WVPJfpGRYzUHapnUy4yXkt9ILsi2XhoCjHUQAvD_BwE

That is a great tip about waiting for the drop of water to be drawn up.

Yes, you can use something like that. i simply use a bowl so there is a lot of room at the mouth for me to insert my clippers under the water and clip the stem. Then, I raise it up with the water droplet still dangling from the cut end and quickly slip it into the vase of fresh water to maintain the siphon. Once finished, I'll dump the water and stem ends into a garden bed or pot so nothing is wasted.

Thank you so much for all the tips! I have done everything except I may not have been so diligent about the siphoning part and the droplet of water at the end.

I also read that there is a possibility none of these efforts may pay off if the store refrigerated the buds, which causes them to never open. Is this true?

It shouldn't be. What do you think florists do to preserve the blooms longer?Grace Rose Farm refrigerates her cut blooms until shipment. Major exhibitors often have full, florist refrigerators to store their blooms in until shows. As long as they aren't frozen, starting to rot or fully dried out, once the siphon is restarted, the flowers should continue opening.

One other thing I read is that some varieties are bred not to open whereas others tend to open all the way. In my experience, all the roses I've had from the store never open.

I have a couple of roses in my garden and those do open when they are fresh cut.

I will try to be very careful with cutting under water, maybe that will do the trick.

Store bought roses all smell like mold to me.

For your question, be sure the sepals have opened or you'll have that problem of non opening buds.

Then what is the best place to order cut roses from? I love roses a lot and sometimes I just want 3 of them to mix with other less expensive flowers in an arrangement.

I've had my two rose bushes for 2 years and the first year they did OK but I cannot count on much harvest from them. The second year they were completely neglected because we were out of the country for the entire summer. They lost all of their leaves and developed black spot galore.

I will be trying to revive them this year but I cannot rely on these two bushes in my garden for cutting flowers for my interior.

I wish I could find a good source for fresh cut roses.

Now that almost all fresh cut roses are sourced from growers in equatorial South America, the roses are relatively inexpensive and husky, but usually do not open properly. Your complaint about this shortcoming is universal among professionals in the florist trade as well as among home flower arrangers who are forced to purchase these inexpensive roses.

Fresh cuts made under water so that air is not sucked up into the stem, thus blocking water uptake, plus complete immersion up to under the flower in slightly warm water, about 70° F, for no more than an hour is just about all you can do to coak the blooms to open.

Moses

Moses,

Waow. That's kind of a mess.

Then again, I see all these professional-looking bouquets out there with huge roses open all the way out and I wonder where they get such quality roses from.

I hate rose buds that just sit there and start wilting and neck bending without ever having tried to open up. Seems like such a waste of money and quite unnatural. It's not that I don't like buds but it's like a child who would never mature and would go straight to looking old as a kid. Creepy.

I will try the soaking and siphoning methods above very carefully.

Thanks so much!

Grace Rose Farm in Santa Ynez (soon to be outside of Ventura) CA, specializes in growing "garden roses" for floral work. They're grown "organically, sustainably" outdoors, in the ground. And, they are expensive, but apparently, there is a market as she ships several million stems annually. Enough so, her ten acres is now being replaced with THIRTY. You will know the majority of the varieties she grows for cut flowers, mainly because you probably HAVE them in your yard.

There is someone else that sells them, but I'm at a loss to remember. She also sells rose scented creams and soaps that she makes herself and of course there's always David Austin.

Restoration Roses.

Thank you!!! That's the one! :-))

You're welcome.