Let's move this right on down the line.

Since this is a thread about cats, the thread readers may be interested in the following links: https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/cats-ferrets-susceptible-to-sars-cov-2-study-67374 https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/animal-health-and-welfare/covid-19 Also: "If you are not ill with COVID-19, you can interact with your pet as you normally would, including walking, feeding, and playing. You should continue to practice good hygiene during those interactions (e.g., wash hands before and after interacting with your pet; ensure your pet is kept well-groomed; regularly clean your pet’s food and water bowls, bedding material, and toys). Out of an abundance of caution, it is recommended that those ill with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus. Have another member of your household take care of walking, feeding, and playing with your pet. If you have a service animal or you must care for your pet, then wear a facemask; don’t share food, kiss, or hug them; and wash your hands before and after any contact with them."

The short answer is that the longer the stem you cut, the less you have left of the plant. If you have a 24" plant and cut a 12" stemmed flower, you only have half the height left, and how long will it take to grow back and bloom again? The more stem you cut, the longer it takes to bloom again. Since most of us grow roses for the bloom, we'd rather have the next bloom in weeks rather than waiting all season for the bush to grow back. The reason floribundas have a lot of flowers is because they make a lot of branches. So if you cut a long stem, it means that you have cut not just the flower, but all those branches, and a big bushy thing doesn't make for a great cut flower anyway. You could trim off all the side branches to make a (rather crooked) single stem with a flower on the end, and you'd have sacrificed all those branches which are going to make blooms. You've basically cut off the bush for the flower. Now there are also tall floribundas which can make longer stemmed cut flowers (I'm thinking Iceberg, Moondance). If you prune them rather short during pruning time, they will grow longer cutting stems with flowers at the end. There won't be as many flowers as compared to if you pruned more lightly, though. Taking long cuts off a plant will also leave gaps in the bush, which is why people have dedicated cut flower gardens in a less visible part of the garden. BTW, if you don’t prune HT’s much, many of them will become bushy at the ends and produce more, smaller flowers.

Unfortunately, while the painting in question is lovely, looking at the auction catalog makes me very sad. My dad was a collector of western art and scrolling past all those Remingtons is rather painful.... Thanks for posting, though! It's quite interesting to see what kinds of art are getting what kinds of prices!