Roses will last longer with gardening expert's method to prolong 'expensive bouquets'
If you've been gifted an expensive bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day, one gardening expert's hack can help make them last longer.
There's nothing better than being given a fresh bunch of flowers, especially if it's for Valentine's Day.
Red roses are the most popular bloom to gift on the day of love, with the flowers symbolising love, passion, romance, and desire.
With the average bouquet of roses costing £52.53 and only lasting for an average of five to seven days, you may be looking at ways to prolong their lifespan.
Graham Smith MCIHort, a gardening expert from LBS Horticulture, has shared how rose bouquets can be propagated to grow more flowers.
Propagating roses is the process of reproducing rose plants from cuttings. Despite their reputation for being finicky, most roses are easy to propagate at home.
Graham has shared the following method to follow when attempting to propagate cut roses from a bouquet.
How to propogate roses
Choose a flower stem that is a few inches long, ideally between two inches and six inches, and has two to three sets of leaf nodes.
Remove any flowers and leaves from the bottom of the stem.
Cleanly cut the stem at a 45° angle just below the bottom set of leaf nodes.
Place the stem into a well draining potting medium, leaving the top set of leaves exposed.
Keep the stem in a warm, bright location and keep the soil consistently moist.
Graham urges this to be done while the bouquet is still fresh for the best chance of success, and notes that not every cut flower will successfully root, but it is possible with the right care.
He said: "The cut stem can take a few weeks to form roots, so you will need to be patient.
"Once you begin to see new growth and roots, the stem can be transplanted into a larger pot or the ground.
"You can increase the chances of rooting by dipping the cut stem into a rooting hormone, but this isn't necessary.
"Propagation can help you to make the most of an expensive bouquet and add more plants to your garden."
