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Cake of Roses

With their vast array of colors, and their sophisticated style, roses can complement so many endeavors around the home. In my last post, I promised some ways to put those roses you grow to use.

Sure, they can dress up a vase with no problem, but how about using them to top off a cake... particularly one for Mother's Day? My new cookbook, Cake Decorating for Dummies, came out a couple of weeks ago, and this has been one of my favorite tips to share when talking about the book. If you decorate the cake close to the time you serve it, you don't even have to worry about making arrangements to hydrate the roses on the cake. And I always use unsprayed roses... another advantage to growing your own because you can keep them organic, and not worry about them being on or near food.

We also like using individual full rose blooms at dinner parties -- for a linear, low-slung centerpiece that doesn't hinder conversation -- placing them in a little water in votive candle holders alongside other ones containing candles.

And then of course, they're perfect for nature lessons with the kids. As kids do, they marvel at each rose's growth:  how the bare root rose plant starts to leaf, then buds... and then they watch with glee and anticipation as the buds become roses.

Which, by the way, they tell me are also perfect for putting in a vase.