History:
I learned this at about the age of ten from a children's magic book I got from the library. It was some ten years later before I actually used it in a performance and discovered what a beautiful addition it was to my act.

Effect:
The magician plucks the bud of a rose from it's stem and instantly changes it into a silk handkerchief.

Secret:
The rose was always a silk handkerchief.

Preparation & Presentation:
Find a silk handkerchief that closely matches the color of a real flower (red, yellow, white, etc). The best ones to use can be found at your local magic store, but good ones can also be bought at department stores. Remember, however, that the thicker the material, the larger the rose.

Once the proper silk is obtained, fold about 1" of a corner back on itself, then do it again (fig 1 below) . This creates a core. Wind the remainder of the silk around this core. The final result should closely resemble a rose bud (fig 2). If not, repeat until it does. Practice will render an almost perfect looking "rose".

If you remove the bud from an artificial flower, you can replace it with the silk bud you created. The way the stem is made usually prevents the silk from unwinding, but you will also have to experiment with this to find the proper positioning.

You can leave the stem long, placing it in a vase with other roses, or clip the stem short and pin it to your lapel. Whenever you are ready to perform, pluck the "bud", discard the stem, make a magic pass, and allow the "bud" to unroll while holding onto the outer corner of the silk. This is only a production of a silk handkerchief. It will be even more powerful if you find something to do with the silk afterwards.

Note: While this trick is very magical looking, the effect is not quite strong enough to do this trick alone. Again, it will have a much stronger impact if you find some use for the silk once it is produced.