Choosing well
What to look for in roses
The outer petals
Real roses are never symmetrical. The outermost petals curl back on themselves, and one or two sit a shade darker at the edge than the rest. A bloom built from identical stamped petals reads as fake from across the room, whatever the photograph suggested.
The sepal and the hip
Look underneath the head. A cheap stem joins the bloom straight to a green plastic collar. A considered one has distinct sepals and a slight swell where the hip would be — the detail nobody photographs, and the first thing you notice in person.
Where the colour sits
Pigment should deepen towards the throat and lighten towards the edge, the way it does in a flower that grew. A single flat red across every petal is the giveaway, and no amount of petal count rescues it.