How to Propagate Roses From Your Valentine Bouquet

February 11, 2016

Do you know how to propagate roses from your Valentine bouquet? As Valentine’s Day quickly approaches and long-stemmed roses will be a common gift, I thought this would be a good topic to share.

Propagating Roses In Potting Soil

A couple of years ago, I came across a video on how to root roses from cut flower arrangements. (Isn’t the internet an amazing fount of knowledge?) I had no idea that this was even possible, but this picture is evidence that this can actually be achieved!

To see the video I watched, click here► a video on how to propagate roses from flower arrangements. This lady actually rooted the roses in potting soil and used a rooting medium. She places the pots in plastic bags, which act as a greenhouse.

In the past, I have rooted rosemary, lavender, basil, and other plants for the garden on many occasions. Why was I so surprised and why had I never thought of this?

At one point, I actually told Dave not to buy bouquets for me. It seemed such a waste. I would rather have a plant. Okay, my perspective has changed. The beauty and fragrance of the bouquet can be enjoyed and a plant can even be propagated from the stems!

Propagating Roses In Water

In another video, a gentleman had placed rose cuttings in clear water bottles and rooted the roses. That is what I chose to do. The thought of plastic bags filled with pots of dirt sitting around the house did not appeal to me.

The picture above is of two rose cuttings from a single-stemmed rose in my kitchen window. The picture is after a couple of weeks of being in the water. When the bloom was spent, I cut off the blossom and cut the stem at an angle below a leaf node in two places, creating two potential plants.

Before placing the stems in the water, I dipped them in honey. (Since I did not have a rooting medium on hand, I did a search and found that honey was a good alternative. You can also dip them in cinnamon in place of the rooting medium.) Notice that there was new growth on the long stem at this point.

Since this window is directly in front of my sink, I was able to check on the progress each day.

How to Propagate Roses From Your Valentine Bouquet on MyHumbleHomeandGarden.com — This is called a callus, which appears just before the roots.

Before the roots formed, the ends of the stems looked like the picture to the left. This is called a callus, which appears just before the roots.

It took about two months for the stems to root and be ready for planting. One of the cuttings began to mold and did not root, but you can see the larger one did and I have a plant from a cut rose from the florist!

Enjoying Your New Roses

It is so enjoyable to watch as these cut roses take on new life, rooting, planting, and then enjoying them in your garden! Imagine telling your friends and family how you received the flowers from someone and now have plants from those bouquets growing in your garden!

So using this same system of how to propagate roses from your Valentine bouquet, I will be trying it again this year. How about you?