Real-world roses won’t bloom for a decade like the “enchanted rose” in “Beauty and the Beast,” but in a Smithsonian magazine story, American Floral Endowment Research Coordinator Terril Nell, Ph.D., AAF, made the case that professional care and handling practices can make a real difference to flower longevity and offered up some rose varieties known to be star performers.
A key plot point in the classic Disney fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast” involves a rose that blooms for more than a decade. In the run-up to the recent release of the movie’s super successful reboot, that “enchanted rose” led writers at Smithsonian magazine to wonder: How possible is the fantasy? Not the beast and the beauty and adorable dancing tea cups and all that, but the rose itself, blooming away under a dome of glass?
The thoughtful answer they got from experts, including American Floral Endowment Research Coordinator Terril Nell, Ph.D., AAF, could prove worthy of a social media or blog post for many florists, as it taps into pop culture but also provides a bevy of scientific research on care and handling, and shout-outs to the lengths professional florists, wholesalers and growers go to, to make their real-world varieties last.
Among the insights offered by the story: “Roses need air circulation to prevent the build-up of ethylene gas that ages a bloom,” writes Alicia Ault. “That’s why florists keep fans blowing inside the coolers where they store cut roses.”
Ault goes on to detail findings by Nell, a professor emeritus at the University of Florida and former president of the Society of American Florists, related to temperature and its effect on quality and longevity. Nell also discusses real-world rose varieties, including ‘Valentino’ and ‘Red Jewel,’ with exceptional vase life study results.
