Wired Roses help!

Christine, I dont know if you ever watch Nick Lodge’s method (in his craftsy class) or not… He has a special way for the bud. Basically he covered the wire (thicker gauge wire, like 18 or 20) with floral tape to make a tiny little rounded bud, also cover the wire about half way down. He uses pasteurized egg whites as his glue rather than the gum glue. I have been using his method for all my roses and it work perfectly! Hope that makes sense to you and good luck!

Hi Christine, I usually use three 24 gauge wires taped together with florist tape and then hook the end. I then proceed exactly as you did leaving the flowers to dry at least overnight or for 24 hours between each layer. For wired flowers since they are not edible due to the wire I use egg white for glue as I find that it is stronger. Hope this helps.

Oh, this really helps, thanks so much Ivone and Marlene. I’ll try all your methods, thanks again!

Hi Christine, am not sure why its not working for you, when you make the hook do you push it in far enough then pinch the end a little so its sealed? When I make the buds I always make them maybe a week before I need them so they set solid. Ivones way of doing the bud is very good also, this way makes them more secure, but I think if you maybe let them set for longer they should be ok? Let us know how you get on! Look forward to seeing them finished! :-) x

Great input, Elli and Marlene! Chef Lodge pointed that when you taped the wire after you pinched the end, the tape prevent the bud from sliding/moving later on.
Looking forward to seeing your flowers, Christine!

Thanks Elli and Ivone! Ive made the flowers now, it was the 2 largest ones that fell off, but, theyre going at the bottom of the cake anyway. So, I’ll secure them with royal icing. I’ll definately tape the hook next time, use egg white for glueing and make them more in advance. Thanks again guys ♥

Christine, do you use flower picks to put the wires into? Not sure where you are, but in the UK inserting wired directly into the cake is a big No No, as you can get cross contamination.

Hi Karen. I use thin cocktail type straws and use royal icing to secure the wire in it. So, when the flowes are pulled out of the cake the straws come out with them. Also the royal icing seals the wires in the straw.

Oooo! What a good idea! Much cheaper than flower picks. I sometimes use straws for dowels on two tier cakes, as long as the cake being supported is not too big, it works well. I use ones a bit thicker than cocktail straws.

Thanks for the tip Karen, my next cake is a small 2 tier, I will try that :-)