SolveYourProblem Article Series: Roses
How
to Remove Rose Thorns Properly
You’ve probably heard the phrase: every rose
has its thorn. Too many, thorns symbolize the danger that lurks
behind the beauty of the roses, and all sorts of myths try
to explain the presence of these dangerous little daggers on
rose stems. Greek myth suggests that Cupid shot arrows into
the roses accidentally after being stung by a bee and it was
the sting from his arrow that caused the thorns to take root.
Don’t despair if these little daggers are a thorn in your
side. With a little care and some patience, you can remove
those pesky thorns for a nice smooth stem on your rose.
Thorns do actually help the plant drink water, so it is important
that you remove them properly and do not inflict excessive
damage on the stem. You need to take your time and
practice a proper dethorning technique – otherwise you and the rose
will be injured in the process.
Carelessly removing thorns will damage your roses in the long
run. They will not last as long as they should and any peeled
or torn skin will hinder the amount of water that makes its
way up to the petals. Proper dethorning takes practice and
patience.
You can remove thorns right on the plant, or you can wait
until the stem is cut and do it then. It is best to try and
remove thorns on the cane when it is quite young and before
the rose blooms if you know that the stem will be cut at some
point in the future for display or for the creation of a bouquet.
You can remove thorns by applying slight pressure to the sides
to simply push them off the stem. You can use this same procedure
with cut stems.
Removing thorns by hand is a tedious task, and with some roses,
the thorns grow so close together that it is almost impossible
to push one off without stabbing yourself on another one. That’s
where a dethorning tool can come in handy.
You can purchase a specialty product like a thorn
stripper.
This type of tool strips the stem of leaves and thorns. You
can also fashion your own with some metal strapping from your
local hardware store. If you do make your own, be sure to file
the edges that touch the flower so the stem is not torn excessively
in the dethorning process.
To use a dethroning
tool, you simply hold it just below the
flower and close the jaws together around the stem. Be sure
that you don’t use too much pressure when closing the jaws
of the stripper because you could damage or even severe the
stem. Lightly drag the dethorner down the stem. The thorns
should pop right off. It may take a bit of practice to get
the hand of a thorn stripper, but after a few tries you should
have a good idea of how much pressure is needed to remove the
thorns.
You can also remove thorns with a knife. All you need to do
is scrape the stem of the rose with a sharp floral or small
pairing knife. If you are removing thorns from the cut stem,
then you might consider only removing the thorns and leaves
that lie below the water level.
You want to think carefully about whether or not you need
to remove all the thorns from your roses. It is important to
remove rose thorns when the flowers will be in a hand held
bouquet or worn on the lapel. When placing cut stems in a vase
for display, you should remove the thorns that will be below
the surface of the water, but you don’t need to take off those
that will be above water level. Removing thorns can shorten
the life of your roses so be sure that you aren’t over dethorning
your blooms.
An important time to do some dethorning, though, is when you
are preparing plant litter for your compost pile. After pruning
off any dead or decaying canes from your rose bush, you should
consider removing the thorns before tossing the old stems into
your compost pile. Removing the thorns will make it safer for
you to work and exposing the stem in this way will also help
sped up the decomposition process.
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SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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