i am thinking about making a cake with fresh roses on it for an anniversary tomorrow .. is there anything I need to do to keep them fresh, safe for the cake etc. .. I just want to lay some roses on the top of a cake maybe with some babys breaths..

anyone out there that can help me with this?

I believe you can and should by flowers that are pesticide free, so that you do not contaimenate the cake with that nasty stuff..And I know if you keep them in the fridge they will stay fresh I wouldnt put them on until the last possible minute, so you can keep them in water. HTH

thanks .. would the local florists carry pesticide free roses? Also should I tape the stems up with floral tape or just leave them as is?

You can lay them on there with out anything done to them. I have use a plastic cake circle before to make the flowers easily removable. Just buy the smallest one that the store carries. You cn place a piece of foam on that or just place directly onto the icing. somewhat depends on how big your top layer is. Roses are fairly hearty so they will last a while. If you do place them in the fridge make sure there is no fresh cut fruit in there or it will ruin them.

I found a thread on fresh flowers. It may help.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-64.html