ZZZippy's Floral Tips

Keeping Your Flowers Looking Better & Living Longer

Whether you’ve purchased a fresh floral bouquet or are cutting flowers from your yard that you intend to place in your home, there are several easy things that you can do to make those flowers look better and last longer.

First

If you are cutting flowers to put in a vase make sure that you give each stem a fresh cut. The best way to do this is to cut the stem on an angle with a sharp knife… not scissors. The scissors will smash or pinch the stem as you are cutting it which actually defeats your purpose. The intent is to open the stem so that the flower can more easily drink the water. Think of the stem as a straw that the flower itself can suck water through. The bigger the straw the more water that the flower gets. When using scissors or a dull knife you actually defeat the purpose and could possibly reduce the intake of water.

Second

Always put fresh tepid water in your vase and take your time placing flowers exactly the way you want them displayed. When you are finished grab the entire bouquet with one hand and dump out the old water with the other. Then add the fresh water. Some people actually use a flower preservative however an aspirin or a couple of pennies added to the water will work just fine. The idea here is to keep the water from turning green or stagnant (which will also clog the stems and prohibit water from flowing easily).

Third

Make sure that every other day or so, you repeat the process of replacing the old water with fresh water. It might be helpful to cut the stems again (remembering to cut them with a sharp knife and on an angle).

Fourth

Mist your flowers with a fine spray of lukewarm water once or twice a day. This will help keep them moist and fresh.

Finally

The placement of your bouquet is very important. Do not set them where they might get a draft (warm or cold). Flowers do like to be kept cool but an air conditioner or fan blowing on them will dry them out. This is one reason that flowers placed in offices with high air flow exchanges do not last long. In addition, always keep your flowers out of direct sunlight. Plants love sunlight… until they are cut.

Floral Tips by the Powell's