Tuesday 18 August 2015

How to Make Cut Flowers Last Longer in a Vase

Flowers Are Part of a Living Plant

The essential thing to remember when handling flowers is that they are (or rather were) part of a living plant. From the moment they are cut, to the moment when you put them into a vase with water, they need to be treated with care.

If you are lucky enough to be able to grow flowers in your own garden, bring them indoors as soon as possible after cutting. This will make the transition from soil to water quick and relatively painless for your flowers and wilI cause the least trauma to the cut stems. 
 However most people buy their cut flowers from a supermarket or specialist florist's store. This means that some hours may pass between buying and the time when the flowers are once again immersed in water.

Caring For Your Fresh Flowers

Before make sure that every part of the bouquet or bunch of flowers looks in good condition. Check that none of the leaves have withered or turned brown or show signs of disease. The flowers should be either in bud or only slightly open.
When you get home, make sure the vase you intend to use is really clean. It is a good idea to rinse it with bleach. Use a scouring pad to remove all traces of mildew or algae from previous flower bouquets.
Before arranging the flowers in the vase, you need to condition them first. This means allowing them to rehydrate for a couple of hours and absorb the moisture they have lost since being cut from their roots.

Conditioning and Preparing Your Flowers

When the stem draws water up into the flower heads it also takes water to any leaves below the flowers. So the first step is to remove any excess leaves that you do not want in the finished arrangement. Make sure you remove any leaves that will be below the water level of the vase as these will rot and taint the water. Then take off any remaining leaves that you do not want for contrast color next to the blooms.

By the time your flowers or plants arrive in your home, they will probably not have been watered for some time. So you must rehydrate them. Fill a bucket with tepid water (room temperature) or you could fill a kitchen sink with water instead. Trim the base of each stem so that there is a fresh raw surface ready to suck up the clean water. Place the cut flowers into the bucket (or sink) so that the entire stem is submerged and the flower heads rest on top of the water. They should be left like this for a minimum of half an hour and up to two hours depending on their condition.

After having a good drink, the flowers and stem will be refreshed and be in a better state to last in your home. Gently lift each stem individually from the water shaking off the excess and then arrange them in your vase. The video below shows how a professional florist carries out this task.

Change the vase water regularly to make your flowers last longer. Remember to renew the plant food (or your home-made equivalent) when you do this.

Flowers that have woody stems (for example roses and hydrangeas) last longest if you arrange them in a deep water vase. Flowers that have fleshy stems (for example tulips and daffodils) can do better if the water level is kept shallow as this prevents their stems rotting.
When you are arranging the flowers, the shorter you cut the stem, the longer the flowers will last as the heads don’t have as far to draw up the water.


 St Anne’s Florist and Gift Baskets Perth is the Perth Florist shop that you should entrust with your Perth Flowers order. Order your Flowers Perth, Gift Baskets Perth or Gift Hampers Perth securely online NOW, call the Subiaco Florist Shop on (08) 9388 8844 to speak to us direct or come into the Perth Florist Shop at 111 Newcastle Street, Perth Western Australia 6000.

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