You open the front door and by gosh, there is a long box sent FedEx addressed to you. If you are lucky enough to have your sweetheart with you every day, believe me, you are lucky enough. Many of us share our love one with the military, government work overseas, and organizations that keep the world safe . I am one of them. My wonderful husband keeps us safe. And not just America, though his heart is red, white and blue. He keeps us safe, I mean, the world. Global peace drives him and he makes a difference in a better way every day in his work. So I share him with the world. We are united forever in our love and commitment to each other. We are as one. Though there is distance between us, our heartstrings go across the globe. So on Valentine’s Day, there will be a FedEx box at my door. And inside will be roses. Because I am a designer, my husband sends a box of flowers, not a prearranged vase of flowers. He knows my passion for design. 

Not everyone has this talent, my daughter tells me. So I want to share with you the most basic steps that you can use to make your flower arrangement look like a pro.

If you receive a dozen red roses, the first thing you do is. Prepare a sugar-clorox mix of one-half cup granulated sugar and two teaspoons of clorox in a two-gallon pail of warm water. This is basic to the longevity of the roses. The sugar keeps the roses developing and the Clorox prevents bacteria from forming and clouding the water.

Once you have your water ready, submerge your roses into the bucket of water. Take a sharp knife and cut the stem while holding it under water and cut at a 45 degree angle. Leave the roses sitting the water. Continue this with all your roses.

Find the vase you want to accent your roses. This is the trick you will want to remember. You can easily arrange your flowers and keep them standing up in the vase, by using clear tape. Yep, that’s right. Take the tape and zigzag it across the top of vase. Just make sure the top of the vase is dry when you put it on.

Now go back to your roses and strip them of their thorns and leaves, leaving just a few leaves close to the head of the rose. You can use a paring knife for this; however there is a special knife that we use in floral design. If your flowers came with filler foliage, such as baker’s fern, you will want to clean the fuzz off of its stems as well. Once this is completed, it is time to kiss the rose, as I say. The outer petals of the rose are called guard petals. They will look a little wilted or brown at the top edges. Just pull them of off. Your roses will look like a bud or tight rose. Don’t worry, they will open up. You then cut your roses’ stems to 1 and 1 half times the height of your vase.

You are ready to create. Crisscross the stems of baker’s fern, if you have it and insert into your vase. If not, start by inserting your first stem of roses into the vase, and then place the next stem across it and continue crossing each new stem over the last one until the glass is full. This is done between the spaces in the tape. You will see the stems crisscrossing in the water of the vase. This keeps the flowers from moving and the tape helps give a newbie a guide of arranging at an angle. Once you have placed all the flowers in the vase, you can move them a little to put your finishing touch on it. And you are done.    

Remember your flowers love water. Give them plenty in the morning and evening.

And one more little tidbit, just because you have a dozen red roses ,  you don’t have to keep them all together.. I usually make a tall vase of six and then make a round design with the other six. This is arranging them tight in a low vase. Roses like to touch. And this design is a great accent  on an end or foyer table.

If you ever noticed, you see this style quite a bit on the morning news at the anchor desk of the hosts.   Wishing you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day. And please keep our love ones overseas in your prayers and thoughts. Though they are miles away, their hearts never left home. God Bless America!