I've often read things like, "'Heritage' is a nice rose in the garden, but it shatters immediately after being cut." Well, last night I retired a cut 'Heritage' that was fine for 4 whole days, 96 hours. That's in plain water with no special treatment.

It's counter-intuitive, but, in most cases, very double roses with short central petals will open faster and more easily than hybrid teas with a lot of long petals. This means the cupped and rosette types should be cut at an earlier stage.

Try cutting as soon as the sepals have dropped, if you cut in the early morning. Or, if you cut in the evening, cut when the sepals have dropped and outer petals have loosened just slightly. (Roses do most of their opening around mid-morning.) Naturally, this rule of thumb won't apply to every variety, so try with one bud at first and adjust if it doesn't open. Extra-fat buds may need some extra time as well.

Single and semi-double roses are best cut before the sepals have dropped, when the sepals are splitting and showing some petal between.

By cutting earlier, you can expect to get at least three days in the vase with most OGR and Austin roses.