Roses are harvested at different levels of maturity, depending on marketing and cultivar. For long-distance transport or storage, roses should usually be harvested with some of the sepals reflexed. Flowers harvested before the sepals reflex may fail to open or may be more susceptible to a bent neck. Fast-opening roses, like some yellows and whites, should be harvested just before the sepals start to separate from the bud. The marketing life of roses harvested later will be reduced unless extra care is taken with their postharvest handling. Harvesting is most convenient using shears provided with auxiliary jaws to hold the bloom after harvest. The cut is normally made so as to leave 2 five-foliate leaves below the cut. When stem length is an important consideration, the cut may be made ‘below Roses should be purchased and sold by cultivar name. Avoid blooms that are already open – flowers should normally have some or all of their sepals (the green protective ‘leaves’ at the base of the flower) folded back, but the petals should not have started unfolding. Brown spots or patches on the outer petals may be an indication of Botrytis infection.

 

Grading and Bunching. Objective grading is based on stem length; subjective grading is based on flower maturity, stem straightness, stem caliper, and quality of flower and foliage. Defects on the outer "guard" petals are not normally a cause for down-grading, because these petals are removed by the retail florist. Leaves and thorns may be removed manually or mechanically if desired. This operation has little effect on vase life if flowers are placed in an effective preservative. The number of stems per bunch, and bunch pattern (single layer, staggered two-layer) depends on market preferences.