February 2005 - Millions of sweethearts will bestow roses upon those they love come mid-February. Rather than using the Chop n' Plop technique - chopping the stems of the beautiful blooms and plopping them in a vase - Jill Slater, Floral Designer for www.flowerpossibilities.com, has a few simple ways to care for and arrange roses.

Long Live the Roses - From floral conditioning to leaf lessons, there are a few ways to make roses last. Jill recommends cutting the stems and immediately setting them into water that has been treated with commercial floral preservative. And don't forget to remove any leaves that would be submerged in the water. Changing the water, adding new floral preservative and re-cutting the stems two to three times per week will also increase the enjoyment period.

Vase Basics - To achieve a vase arrangement, Jill suggests trimming the stems so they are about double the height of the container (for example, for an eight-inch vase, rose stems should measure 16 inches). Next, using a crisscross technique, add one stem to the vase at time while crossing them about midway. Turn the vase while adding each stem to achieve a full arrangement.

Blooms for Every Room - Rose recipients often feel the need to keep a bunch of blooms together. Jill suggests splitting up the bouquet and spreading small arrangements throughout the home for maximum enjoyment. From a few stems gathered in a glass on the table to single blooms beside the bed, roses in every room are a great way to add romance to the entire home.

Boxed Blooms - Recipe by Jill Slater 'Life is like a box of chocolates, ya never know what you're gonna get.' Fill a heart shape candy box with flowers... It's simply beautiful. And, it's fragrant too. Materials: 1 to 2 bricks floral foam 2 dozen short stemmed blossoms (asters, miniature and standard carnations, freesias, lisianthus, mums, statice and roses work well. For the valentine holiday use shades of red and pink with a touch of white. A bit of white, highlights the red and pink colors) Heart shaped box (approximately 12 inches in length x 8-inch in width) Plastic garbage bag Scissors Floral preservative Floral clippers Directions: 4 easy steps. Step 1 - Soak the floral foam in water that has been treated with floral preservative for at least 30 minutes. Step 2 - Line heart shaped box with plastic garbage bag. Step 3 - Cut the floral foam to fit the entire interior of the heart shaped box. The foam should come up just below the rim of the box. Now tuck the edges of the plastic bag into the box. Step 4 - Cut flowers to about 2-inches in length and insert them into the floral foam right next to each other. Once the box is completely filled with flowers, you're done!