Opening roses by hand

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SpringCity

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Watching those wedding shows, I often see where the florist says they opened the roses by hand. Do any of you do this?

I don't know if I like the look and I would think they would get damaged by all the manhandling. Not to mention the labor!

I just let them open naturally to a certain point and then put them in the cooler to keep them from opening anymore. I'm curious to hear if anyone does this though.
 
I've done it playing with older roses (ones that aren't real crisp) and have had trouble doing it with fresh, conditioned and hardened roses.
 
It's called reflexing the roses. I would only do it to make an impact for certain looks, maybe in a bridal bouquet. I don't think it hurts the roses, but, it so time comsuming.

I am not a fan of it, but, do see how it can be used effectively in some design situations.

Carol Bice
 
We do it all the time for certain clients. Some varieties will reflex much better than others. Red Intuition is stunning when reflexed. It doesn't seem to affect the life of the bloom, and they really don't suffer for the handling. There is a learning curve. . .you'll catch the nack after a few. Fully hydrated roses actually work better, but at room temp.
Customers love to watch it happen!
 
Black baccara roses reflex beatifully. I needed just a touch of color for a Christmas wedding last year in a couple of altar pieces that were mostly whilte and cream. I had added some ginger for flair and the reflexed roses gave the arrangements a great texture to tie in the lillies and fir.
I don't usually like reflexed roses; I think they tend to look dated, but they worked welll for this arrangement.
I'll try and find some pics.
 
Another hint for opening tight roses it to run them under warm, almost hot water, cupped in your hands....(this is for a bridal bouquet,funeral piece, corsage etc ...that needs to be open fast !)
it's an answer to the frustrating problem of roses that need to be open and will not co-operate. Put them back into the cooler until they harden again....

It's not the same as reflexing roses but will help when in a hurry !
 
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I think reflexed roses look ugly, I don't like it at all! My first boss, who was pretty old by the time I was working for her did this all the time. so it seems like a really old school thing to do..to me anyway.
Kinda looked like someone with there head on wrong.... just never looked right to me.

My hands are big and I have a hard time not squishing the rose petals.
 
We only do it for wedding work or a design meant to last for a day.

- I never took those fancy floral classes, but this is how I do it. Take your palm and gently move it in a counter clock wise or clock wise fashion over the top of the rose applying a little more pressure as it starts to open. If the rose is REALLY tight, do the same thing, but use the tip of your finger until it is big enough to use your palm.

When you first start moving your palm, do small circles and spiral out to bigger ones.

GL buddy ;)
 
I too am not a huge fan of reflexed roses......mostly stemming from my horticulture background as roses in their natural state just do not open like that.
 
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I like them flexed and floating in a big bowl.
Other than that, I like to flex them in front of people and see their
reaction.
I flex kale too. I really makes this flower look great. I remove a lot of the
the lower leaves on the kale and keep the top part...it looks like much prettier
flexed open.
 
I was taught to blow into the bloom...gently....please no smart alec comments! Or gently "stir" against the swirl of the petals. When we are asked to reflex roses I find that bringing them out of the cooler overnight helps to soften them and week old roses are usually the easiest to work with.
 
We do this in our rose casket sprays and people LOVE THEM! we have had people ( even non family members) to ask us how we get those BIG roses and to compliment us on them. Happens every week!
 
I love the look of reflexed tulips... not roses.

V
 
We do it some times.When the customer says they just want to buy 20 stems but should look like 40 stems. Surely they give a bigger look to the bouquet.

Harmeet Anand
 
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