my bunch of roses is wilting, what should I do?

loumac

On Valentines of all days you'd expect better!

I was ordered some roses once and they were delivered a day late - der!!! My BF at the time complained and got a full refund (even though the flowers were glorious!) as it totally missed the point.

gil13

i think tesco may have got the supply a bit wrong on their red roses. they had bunches in our local store yesterday at £6.00 a dozen, yeah cheap, but awful, going black and looking dull, same could be said for some of the more expensive ones. it seemed to me that they have had some problems this year perhaps the prize war that has broken out has effected quality.

rach

the main problem is that the roses are forced at this time of year to get them ready for valentines day. i'm an ex-florist, and my guess would be that tescos have bought low grade flowers and then they've been badly stored - sounds like they've got wet and gone nasty. they have probably also been stored in somewhere too cold which does them no good. i'd definitely demand a full refund, and extra flowers...
you may actually be able to salvage them (don;t tell tesco though!).

you can gently remove the outside petals, this is quite normal practice as often the outside petals are a bit tough
then cut about 2 inches or so off the stems and put them straight into water (a nice deep vase). i would guess they're wilted too, this should bring them back (roses get airlocked)

hope that helps.

pavlovs_dog

rach is it true that adding sugar or crushed asprin to the water can help revive ailing flowers for an extra day or two?

rach

its all a bit debateable. florists also have different ideas over whether the little packets of stuff that you get with flowers make any difference. through the tests we did and the experience i ahve i'd advise the following to look after your flowers as well as possible:

*make sure your vases are REALLY clean. the main problem with flowers going off too soon is that vases are not clean. so clean them well (a bit of bleach can do a good job) after every use
*changing the water every couple of days will prolong the life of your flowers
*always strip off any leaves below the water line
*for carnations a little bit of sugar won't do any harm
*for chrysanthemums add a drop of bleach to the water

always cut flowers when you are putting them into water.

Robothell

I too have had bad experiences with Tesco flowers......2 years ago to the day to be exact. I had ordered a large bouquet of roses for my gf and ticked for delivery on Feb 14th......I ordered a good 10 days in advance. I told my gfto stay indoors all day and guess what.......they never arrived........until the next day when they arrived DEAD! The dog house would have been comfortable compared to where I was sent!!

I phoned up and explained to the guy in the call centre.......after he had stopped laughing he said that for NI I should have selected for delivery on 13th Feb as NI takes an extra day. I said this was ridiculous, that their system should compensate for this as they asked what day I wanted them delivered on, not dispatched on, and besides, they arrived dead. Tesco refunded all my money and sent out their top of the range Spring bouquet by way of an apology.

heatherbelle_3

Hi all!

I have a new obsession - fresh flowers in my home! Not very MSE I know but I pick them up when they are reduced at Mr T's. Yesterday I got a mixed bunch of roses and lillies (my favourite!) for £1 reduced from £4.99. They have the 7 day guarantee still and last time I bought flowers from the reduced bin they lasted well on 12 days! Bargain! :j

Now this morning the lillies have picked up and look fabulous - no problem there with them being reduced! But the roses still look sorry for themselves.

I have cut the stems at an angle as I know this takes on the maximum amount of water for them - but does anyone have any other tips?

Thanks!
x

Pink.

Hi heather,

With roses if you cut them at an angle, as you have done, and then plunge them into a vase of very hot water and leave them for an hour or two this often revives them. I'm sure there was an earlier thread on this so I'll have a look to see if I can find it and add your thread to it.

Pink

Psykicpup

I've just bought myself a small bunch of pretty salmon coloured roses from Co-Op reduced down to 25p :money: (originally £3):eek:
Now Obviously they a a little past thier best but I think there are a few good days left in them & this is where I need the Old Styler's help! :beer:
What is the best way to treat them so I get the best/longest longest display to make my family amazed for days!!:D ?

snoopy58

I find a teaspoon of sugar helps.