What Kind of Roses Are Used for Long Stem Arrangements?

The Rose-Growing Industry

• The Netherlands formerly provided most of the imported cut roses for the U.S. market. Attention shifted to South America with its superior growing conditions; long days at elevations above 8,000 feet optimize the effects of sunlight and ideal temperatures. Roses, marked by sturdy stems and large, well-formed heads, arrive in the U.S. within as little as 72 hours on refrigerated cargo jets. Colombia accounted for more than half of the 1 billion rose stems imported into the U.S. by 2004; Ecuador provided nearly one-third. Colombian-grown roses nearly meet coffee in export volume, flourishing on fields where coca plants once provided the cocaine trade.

Florist Roses

• The light-pink pink, hybrid tea Ophelia “mothered” several florist roses as sports or offspring in the late 19th century. American Beauty is a hybrid perpetual. Rouge Meilland is a hybrid tea with long-lasting, well-formed red blooms introduced in France in 1949. It enjoyed large sales as Happiness in the U.S. through the 1960s. The hybrid tea Baccara is an offspring of Happiness. Sonia, a grandiflora; and Visa, Bettina and Candia, hybrid teas, are Meilland introductions from the 1970s. Kordes introduced the light-pink hybrid tea Dream, with its extra long vase life, in the late 1970s. Creamy-colored Arena's Dream, Cream Dream, the rose-pink Royal Dream and peachy-colored Myrna's Dream sported from the original Dream.

Garden Roses

• Sonia, introduced by Meilland in 1974, rapidly gained world-wide favor as a florist rose. Sonia transitioned well to become a useful garden plant, providing long-stemmed, salmon-pink cut roses. Gardeners also raise Baccara, another florist rose by Meilland, with deep orange-red, full-petaled blooms for a long-lasting fresh display. The grandiflora Gold Medal, hybrid teas pink Bewitched, the intensely fragrant red blend Double Delight and the bright-red Olympiad are all candidates for long-stemmed cutting from the home garden.

Selection and Care

• Select florist or garden roses with long, straight stems. Lightly squeeze buds at the base, choosing only those that are firm and tight. Bring florist roses home immediately; cut garden roses in the evening. Give all roses a fresh cut, taking off 1 inch of stem end while holding it underwater. Allow them to “harden” in a bucket of room-temperature water, with added floral preservative, in a cool, dark room overnight. Give roses a fresh cut at the stem end as you work with them, and add floral preservative to vase water. Keep arrangements in a cool, dark room overnight.