From Garden to Vase

by Tina
(San Francisco, CA, USA)

I love hybrid tea roses that have a gradient of colors. My favorites are those that have a base of deep purple, with an intermediate band of lighter lilac and yellow, and a tip that is more pink than purple.

The striation of colors is so beautiful that I have worked over the years to find a way to preserve those rose blossoms that are especially nice. I take them from the bush when they are just newly open or at least less than half-way bloomed. They will open further during drying, so I never wait until the opening bloom is full.

I tighten a rubber band around the bottom of the stem and hang them upside down on a wall that gets good air circulation. As they dry, they also open a bit more, and within a week they are full and dry, with petals outstretched.

The color usually fades or darkens a bit (depending on the colors) but I begin spraying preservative shellac as the days go by, gently coating and protecting the petals. Once they are fully dry and set, they can be arranged in vases, or collected into a flat fan of stems to be hung on the wall.

I enjoy experimenting with different color roses to see which will dry truest to original color. So far, I have had more success with dark roses (red, black, deep purple) than with lighter colors (pink, white, yellow) but different shellacs impact the colors in unique ways, so I am always looking out for new ones to try.

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