I have really mixed results with bouquets. I don't use anything other than water and on some days (usually cool days) they'll last for three or four days, depending on the variety. I think not having hybrid teas or even floribundas does make a great difference. On hotter days, even with the AC on, they will usually look nice for a day, or maybe two if I'm lucky. I've tried sugar, 7-up and one or two other things, but nothing changes. I brush the aphids off into the sink or squash them, or even rise off the roses. They don't attack house plants so it's not a big deal. Trial and error as to varieties of roses and at what stage to pick them is the best way, I think.

I cut and plonk, Lynn, in various glass vases. I cut the stems under water but don't usually add anything to the water. I hear Sprite helps increase vase life, but I am not sure as I've never tried it.

I avoid cutting roses with thrips; I brush off any aphids or other insects; and I usually expect a flower spider to poke its head out sometime or other.

Different roses react differently to cutting - Austin's Heritage keeps its petals longer if cut early; one of Kim Rupert's singles, Little Butterfly, never opened well on the bush for me but was truly beautiful when cut in bud and left to open inside. I just experiment to see how various roses react. Actually, though, I enjoy them more on the bush so I am not that aggressive in cutting. I like standing in my kitchen and looking outside at the bounty. I don't expect them to last as long as hybrid teas bought from a florist; I cut and plonk, enjoy for a couple of days and then repeat.

We cut a number of peonies the other day and left them on a table outside in the shade because the ants had taken up residence.

Great question Lynn! I hope more folks chime in as well. Did I read that someone recommended refrigerating them after cutting? I never know what to do with the few I have cut.

I rarely cut roses for my home as I have only to step outside my door to enjoy them all that it seems wasteful, somehow - isn't the silly? I DO NOT, however feel the same way about cutting them to bring into my office so that the hours I spend away from my garden are not so hard to take this time of year, LOL. And I could never get a bouquet cut at the beginning of the week to last until Friday (sometimes I was throwing them out on Wednesday morning, talk about feeling wasteful!) - until I read about refrigerating the blooms. I discovered that it really extended their vase life if I took my roses into the office kitchen at end of workday, gave them fresh water and put them in the fridge overnight. They do say there can't be any fruit in the refrigerator in order for this to work, but there rarely is there so it works fine for me whereas at home my fridge is always well stocked with fruit so I wouldn't think it would help but instead make them age even faster.

Oh, and the refrigeration doesn't seem to bother the little flower spiders at all...but rose chafers or JB's that may be hiding way down deep inside a many petaled bloom don't seem to like it at all. Bonus!

When exhibitors cut roses for showing, they bring them inside and rinse them off (to get rid of bugs) they then go into warm water for an hour, then cool water with cut flower food (those little packets you get from a florist). That will extend the life of cut flowers. You can put them in a fridge at night, but try putting a plastic grocery bag around the blooms if you can. Refrigerators are very drying and can dry out the blooms. Some big time exhibitors actually have floral refrigerators in their homes! In the house, put them in a cool room away from sunlight.

Roses with more petals should be cut when partially to half open, roses with fewer petals should be cut when just opened because they will take less time to open.

Copper vase? I have a few vases made from this metal and it seems like cut flowers last longer in them compared to glass or ceramic. Might have to do with something else but I plan to do a side by side comparison just for fun....