How to Enjoy Fresh Roses for Longer

We've all been there. Standing in the produce section or the farmer's market with a full list of groceries, contemplating treating yourself to fresh flowers, and yet some other more practical thought or concern wins out. "Oh they'll only last a week anyway." "That $12 should be spent on something practical for the house." "What's the point, they never last." The reasons to deprive yourself of ephemeral joys are endless! But what if there was a way to make the pleasure last? To hold the beauty of fresh flowers well beyond their supposed expiration date? 

Enter dried roses.

A huge part of slower living is appreciating how much more life is available in the things we cherish and use than typical consumerist thinking would have us believe. So go ahead and treat yourself to that fresh bouquet at the grocery store. Cut some flowers from your carefully tended garden, guilt-free. Here's my 3 step guide for perfectly dried roses to enjoy as long as you please.

Step 1

Enjoy your fresh roses for as long as you can, changing water and trimming stems with sterile scissors or shears often. Watch for darker patches, dropping petals, and a much stronger, sweeter smell to the roses. These are signs of wilting, the flower's death throes brought on by decreased turgor pressure in the plant cells.

pictured: roses with some darker spots and loosening petals, classic signs of wilting

Step 2

Don't let them wilt too much, because that will lead to drooping heads and loss of color. Before the petals start falling off, take a string, tie around the stems, and hang upsidedown in a dry place for at least 2 weeks.

Step 3

Display your dried flowers in arragements by candlelight for a mystical spring vibe with our Spring Fairy Garden candle. Or make a bathroom potpourri with the colorful petals and essential oils.

Like so much else that we use daily, flowers have an afterlife. Self care and intentional living means making choices that make sense, not just for where we are and what we feel we need now, but for where we want to go and what we dream of for the future.

Final thought: "Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul." - Alice Walker

I hope the brighter days of spring bring refreshing winds to you,

 

Brittney