Interesting! Well, thanks for your thoughts. I wasn't sure how true it was either.

I found This Writeup.

The floral perservative contains sugar, biocide, wetting agent, plant hormones, acidifier. Doesn’t seem like any of that would inhibit cuttings from rooting, although like you I had also heard that florists roses don’t take to rooting well. (That said, there’s serveral people on this forum that have successfully rooted florist roses).

Your rose White O’Hara looks like a dead ringer for Francis Meilland (in all stages of bloom!) ,a rose that is both great in the garden and very successful in the florist trade. Maybe that’d be a suitable substitute?

I’ve grown roses from florist roses, so I know it is possible.

The last time i rooted florist roses was in the mid 2000s, and I had ~70% success rate. This may have been before the industry moved to South America, so I don't know if anything is different currently. But I know Beth in No. Cal. is doing it regularly now with good success.

susan9santabarbara The florist industry got their start in South America as a part of the "war on drugs," having Columbia grow roses not Coca 80's-90's. It wiped out the small greenhouse floral growers around the Portland OR area. (Although they may have been going that way before that.) Beth also noted that Euro-Desert carried many greenhouse roses and didn't make it. Maybe they couldn't sell enough to greenhouse growers in the US? (There were a few growers, I knew of 1)

What I read was that the growth inhibitor is supposed to be used so that florist roses can not be "live plants." (That was at the start of the South American growing) That being said, the only supplier I would trust to have them sprayed 100% of the time would be Costco since they keep a very close eye on their supply chain. The practical part of me says that growth inhibitor is expensive, that workers are often very busy, that inspection could be random, but predictable and some might get sprayed and most dipped in something that preserves the flowers. Beth in NorCal said, she sometimes can't get any to root. Others have had all manner of florist roses root from different vendors and grocery stores, but still low percentages. Another fun fact: David Austin patented all his florist roses in the US, why would he have done that if they indeed were always sprayed with growth inhibitor? It seems weird.

It would be so interesting to have an industry insider write a history and what was done when and why...

Thanks to you all for replying!

Ann

I enjoyed your summary, but I also think it’s a very, very tiny minority of buyers that actually want to raise and take care of a live rose bush from a florist flower. After all, a rose bouquet at Costco is very affordable can be had instantly. Raising that rootless stem to bloom at least a year of effort. I cant imagine those rose growers in Ecuador are too concerned about a few home gardeners that want a plant for our own, of a variety that might not do too well under our less ideal conditions. We really won’t ever be competition for them, and it behooves them to spend much money or effort to keep us from rooting their cut flower.

I also read that since these roses are shipped across the world, by the time they arrive in our home they’ve depleted their sugars and nutrients…that’d be another reason they’re not in prime condition for rooting new plants.

As a complete aside, I just have to rave what a fabulous Rose my Cherry Brandy I rooted from a bouquet from Safeway is.So far this year it's my #1 Heat Star-- record days of 100s, and it's still pumping out flowers!

Carla in Sac

I would love to buy a rosebush of White O’Hara. I’ve been searching for one on the Internet for a long time, with no success. Might any of you know of a good source for them?

BenT (9B Sunset 14) It was my understanding that the US government program had the growth inhibitor spray written in the agreement with Columbia to avoid the importation of live plants without quarantine. (or because the rose growers had a big enough lobby) I am going to say the current usage is "spotty" at best. Probably clean pest-free disease-free flowers are a higher priority than the "live plant" aspect with the US import service now. But I did have to move a pineapple from carry on to check bag, because the Ag inspection allowed one and not the other...a little crazy!

A. McMurray Euro-Desert is the nursery in the US that carried florist roses, they closed. Many greenhouses in the west are going cash crop only and that is NOT roses! Hopefully things will change and you get your hands on one.

Another photo of Cherry Brandy.

Here's my post from a while back on 'Freedom'

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5713784/florist-rose-cutting-success

Eventually I really didn't think it was worth keeping in my garden, so I gave it away. But I can see why someone would want it. Each flower lasted an amazingly long time.