Cut rose care – how to remove thorns safely

Whether you receive a stunning cut rose bouquet from somebody special or you pick them yourself, you will want to make sure that they won’t end up pricking anyone. This is even more important if you plan on picking flowers for somebody else. You can remove the thorns safely before presenting the bouquet to your friend or loved one.

Why remove thorns

As briefly mentioned above, if you plan on presenting your cut rose bouquet as a gift, you will want to avoid the recipient hurting themselves. In addition, whether the flowers are for yourself or somebody else, children are often drawn to pretty things. This means that they could try to touch your roses and end up hurting themselves in the process.

How to safely remove thorns

• To remove thorns from your cut rose bouquet, you need to take each stem one at a time. You will need a very sharp knife in order to remove the thorns easily and without damaging the stem.
• Run your knife along the rose stem so that it grazes the surface but does not cut into the stem itself.
• Make sure that you cut away from yourself at all times. This will help prevent any accidents.
• Do not rush the process or you could end up damaging the stem and shortening the lifespan of the flower.
• Repeat this on all sides of the stem before placing it back in the vase and moving on to your next rose.
• A good tip to remember is to wear protective gloves when doing this. No matter how careful you are, you could easily end up pricking yourself several times before you’re done with all of the stems.

While removing the thorns on your cut rose bouquet, you can remove any lower leaves too. This will help ensure that only the stems end up in the vase water and this is important for prolonging the life of your bouquet.