Forever roses in Toronto: made in Ecuador, chosen by colour and case
Forever roses in Toronto come in purple and blue as well as red, powder pink and white, because the dye goes into the solution the stem draws up. Purple and blue appear as a single bud under a glass dome, while red, powder pink and white also come in the larger cases. The shade is set during preservation and, kept out of direct sunlight, holds for one to three years, so the real choice is which colour to pick and which case to put it in.
Ontario grows flowers, Ecuador preserves the roses
A forever rose starts as a real flower, cut at the exact moment it opens. The grower then replaces its sap with a glycerine-based solution, and the stem draws that solution up on its own before the rose is left to dry. The result is neither plastic nor a dried flower: the petal stays soft, where a dried bloom would crumble, and the rose keeps the shape it had when cut.
Ontario accounts for just over half of Canada's flower sales, though Niagara's greenhouses devote only about five per cent of their glass to cut stems, with the rest going to potted plants. The roses that reach Canadian shops come mainly from Colombia and Ecuador, and the preserving itself is done by growers around Cayambe and Tabacundo, at roughly 2,800 to 3,000 metres above sea level.
Purple, blue or classic red: picking a colour that stays
The dye sits in the same solution the stem drinks, which is how a rose ends up a colour no garden grows. Purple and blue come as a single bud under the dome, while red, powder pink and white also come in the bigger sets of flowers.
White carries its own weight in Canada, where it is the traditional colour for a funeral. A white dome is likely to be read as sympathy, so a birthday or an anniversary sits better with red or powder pink. Kept out of direct sunlight, any of these colours hold for one to three years before they start to fade.
One bud under glass, thirteen in a heart: case and count
A glass dome holds one rose or a cluster of three, enough to show the bloom from every side without a container. The clear acrylic case takes larger counts, from four stems up to twenty-five, and reads as a display piece rather than a single flower. A velvet hat box, a shape borrowed from the hat boxes of the nineteenth century, carries nine or nineteen roses, and a heart-shaped box holds thirteen red ones. The dome and the acrylic case let the rose speak for itself; the hat box and the heart arrive dressed as a gift.
None of these need water: the rose is finished before it ships, so there is nothing to top up on arrival. A florist photographs the piece before the courier leaves. Most orders for forever roses delivery in Toronto go out the same day they are placed, and the current timing sits on the product card; see the delivery page for the rest. Ordering from abroad, sending one to a hotel, picking a date, or keeping a rose clear of a radiator in a dry winter work the same as with fresh flowers; see our Toronto flower guide.
Choosing a forever rose in Toronto starts with the case. A single bloom suits a single bud under a glass dome, and a fuller display calls for a clear acrylic box. Choose a velvet hat box when the gift should feel already wrapped, and a romantic occasion fits thirteen roses in a heart.