Roses can freeze so be careful.

This time of year fresh cut roses can freeze. Now I hear a lot of "duh's" out there, but it is surprising how many time people don't think about it. The colder it is, the quicker flowers will freeze. We store flowers at around 33-35 degrees in our refrigerators on purpose, Just cold enough for them to not freeze.

What do we do about this when delivering? One, you can warm the car up. Dashing from the store to the car is usually pretty safe. It takes longer than 30 seconds to do some damage. Second we wrap the arrangement with bags. This holds the heat in and protects the flowers a little longer this way.

When you have to wait for someone to answer the door it can help. Although you can get some strange looks until you unveil the flowers, then the great big smile comes out. A bit of trouble but well worth it in the end.

The best thing is to have flowers delivered and let the florist worry about the handling, but when that is not an option the tips above can help you save an arrangement from an early demise. So go ahead and send a bright cheery arrangement even if it is cold out, because someone can use a brighter day.