Have you tried adding some Floralife (you know - the little plastic packages of white powder that come in the bouquet from the florist) to the water? Half a pack or so at a time. Changing the water and re-cutting the bottoms of the stems at least every second day can help, too. Make sure there are NO leaves in the water.

Roses are generally shorter-lived cut flowers, sadly. Alstromeria, orchids and chrysanthemum tend to last forever.

Incidentally, if you have tulips, and their stems bend, add a penny to the water and they’ll perk right up.

I haven’t tried plant food with spray roses — for some reason the supermarket doesn’t include it with spray roses, though they do with all the other flowers I’ve bought. Changing the water often didn’t seem to help, either. I suppose cutting the stems might; I’ll have to try it.

Alstromeria does last forever. I bought those early this week and they’ve been going strong.

A penny to the water. What a proverb.

Nice to see you again, Pieter. Sorry about the weak redirection. I really wish I wasn’t locked out of my old blog.

That IS a nice proverb. Neat.

Maybe Floralife is bad for roses? Could be.

Haven’t I heard somewhere that you can preserve a rose by hanging it upside down and spraying it with an aerosol hairspray? Okay, I have no clue. I just wanted to say hi! I love the blog! PS, congrats on the whole marriage ‘thing’ Sarah! Let us know if your ever in NC!

Wow! My first comment spam.

No. I’m not going. You go.