Last weekend I had an exhibition of my paintings and wanted to make an arrangement for the opening. The gallery has a lovely window space that can accommodate a decent-size bouquet, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase one of my favorite vases with one of my favorite roses, 'Silverstone':

I learned about this variety when I first met my friends at Harvest Wholesale while working on a rose story for Martha Stewart Living. (Some exciting news about this company coming in a future post!) They introduced me to an array of beautiful neutral-hued roses. 'Silverstone' is a cool lavender that fades in to an icy gray with an aura of green.

If you like working with roses, a stem stripper is a very worthwhile investment. They are available at several online sources such as afloral.com. It removes the leaves and thorns in one quick motion. I've taped mine with red tape because I kept accidentally throwing them out after loosing them in piles of leaves! Remember to remove any leaves below the water line. They will rot and hasten your roses' demise. I splurged on this Astier de Villatte vase at John Derian Company a few years ago and never regretted it. It looks gorgeous on its own and can hold a majestic arrangement.