Showing off roses: 10 quick and easy ideas

Roses are many people's favourite flowers, so whether yours are home-grown or shop-bought, here are 10 quick ideas for showing them off, with the accent on being a little more creative than plonking your bunch in your old favourite vase. Scented roses add a whole new dimension to any arrangement.

Modern, minimalist and monochrome: perfect pure white roses are packed into a super-shiny chrome bucket.

For a classically elegant arrangement, tuck full roses in pastel ice-cream shades tightly together in a cut-glass container.

Achieve an up-to-date, unfussy effect with roses in coordinating colours, at all stages of development from buds to fully blown. Pop single stems into a collection of old bottles and group together.

For a casual, contemporary feel, show off your roses, stems and all, by fanning them out in a round glass bowl. You'll appreciate the roses' beauty more by leaving out foliage and other flowers.

For the atmospheric glow of a candle-lit arrangement, float rose heads - with closely trimmed stems - in a decorative bowl filled with water with floating candles.

An old teapot makes a pretty container for roses and a mix of home-grown flowers and foliage. Echo the colours of the teapot's design in your choice of rose.

For a stunning table centrepiece, trim stems just below the flowers, then float in a glass bowl half-filled with water. This technique works well if any roses you've bought are starting to droop. As an extra touch, you can scatter rose petals on the tablecloth.

Delicate espresso cups make elegant containers, each with a single rose. This makes an ideal centrepiece for a dinner party. You can mix and match the style of the containers, or keep them the same.

Prettify a dressing table or nightstand by placing a bowl inside a small basket, then tightly packing in small roses. This is another good technique to try if your roses have started to droop, and can also be done with dried rosebuds.

When your roses reach the end of their vase life, squeeze the last enjoyment from them buy placing the flowerheads in a bowl beside the bath, and decadently picking off petals to float in your bath!