Question
I have worked for 6 years for a florist who insisted that the roses should be de-thorned before being made into arrangements, but I now work for a new florist who insists taking the thorns off is wrong and jills the roses. Is this true? Should long stemmed roses be sent out with the thorns still on the stems? Thank you, Brenda Adamson

Answer
I too ran into the same problem when I worked for a florist. The defination of a thorn is that it is just a small cane that mutated into a thorn like growth. When you use a thorn stripper or even break them off with your finger, you leave a small open wound. As you know, florists usually include a pacage of florilite which is simply sugar for the rose to feed on and a fungicide to kill the bacteria in the water so they would clog up the end of the stem. When you take the thorns off, you then give the bacteria many more points of entry. However taking the thorns off is only for cosmetic purposes as some people don't like to be scratched. To take it even further, some people get a nasty re-action from rose thorns. I always thought the roses looked multilated. Hope this helps.