You may be trying to arrange the wrong letters! My solution , using the first and last letters as instructed by Tim Moorey are nothing like yours!! The first letters of 11a, 27a, 3d and 17d. are surely not included in your AEAYETRL. Am I that wrong?
There was a mistake in the instructions for the puzzle.
Kayakamina , of this parish , spoke to the setter Tim Moorey and ascertained that it was the LAST letters of all the plants/flowers that were to be made into a 'seasonal rose'
K posted this over the weekend but I cannot find that post.
It was also clear that the letter count must be (5.3) not (3.5)