Flower Care Tips
When You Get Home
Clean out your vase with a little diluted bleach or soap and hot water before placing your water and flowers inside. This will clear out any dust or grime that may cause bacteria in your water and kill your flowers faster. Allow to dry naturally upside down rather than using a towel.
Cut at least 1 inch from each stem on a 45-degree angle with sharp scissors, pruners, or a knife.
Fill your vase about halfway full with cool/room temperature water. Warm water encourages some flowers like peonies and roses to open faster.
Add a flower food packet….don’t just toss it! Studies show this little packet can help increase vase life by up to 60%. If you don’t have one add a little sugar, tea tree oil, or vodka to the water to keep it clean from bacteria. A little vodka for the flowers - a little vodka for you…….it’s 5:00pm somewhere!
Remove any foliage that will sit below the waterline to avoid build-up of mold.
If you have a flower with pollen like Lilies I advise removing the pollen stems. Pollen can stain fabric and furniture and many are allergic to it.
You can dunk your flowers in a bucket of water for an hour before putting them in the vase. This will help hydrate the flower from both ends. Spraying with a product like Crowning Glory Flower Spray can also help because it prevents the water from evaporating out of the petals.
Vase Arranging Tips
When creating an arrangement, use an odd number of stems for a more interesting design.
Add the greens to your vase before adding flowers. This will help your flowers have something to hold them in place and they won’t flop all over.
When adding the flowers to the vase always arrange largest to smallest.
You can also create a tape grid on the top of your vase to keep flowers in place. This will help your stems to stay in place instead of flopping out to the sides when trying to arrange them.
Getting the Longest Vase Life
Don’t place your flowers in direct sunlight. Fresh flowers will begin to dry out when placed in sunlight, near a fan or heating and cooling vent.
Recut your flower’s stems at a 45 degree angle every 1-2 days so that they have a nice fresh cut to ensure they continue to drink more water. Make sure you are using sharp scissors, pruners, or a knife - not a dull blade. You can also spray them with water since many flowers also drink through their petals.
Change the water every 1-2 days.
Remove dying flowers from your arrangement to help it last longer. The bacteria from the dying flowers can cause all your flowers to become infected and die much faster than they should.
Avoid sitting your flowers beside ripening fruit or vegetables, especially bananas and apples. The ethylene gas fruit produces will cause flowers to wilt and brown prematurely.
When a flower begins to bend prematurely and still has a beautiful bloom, cut the stem just above the bend and put it in a small vase. Don’t have a small vase? Look in your refrigerator or spice drawer for a small jar with a narrow neck. These can make a wonderful single stem vase.
Do you have just a few flowers left and don’t have a narrow neck vase? Alcohol bottles are my favorite vases, and I’m not talking about rubbing alcohol!
Other Flower Tips
Keep sunflowers alive longer by placing them in a cool place, away from drafts, fresh fruit, radiators, or direct sunlight. The warmer the room, the shorter the vase life.
Daffodils should not be put in a vase with other flowers. They secrete a substance that kills other flowers when in the same vase. They are the Beta fish of flowers.
Remove most of the leaves on hydrangeas to make them last longer. The leaves drink up a lot of water which prevents it from getting up to the flower. Also, spray them regularly because they drink through their petals.
Poppies need to be cauterized before adding to water. To do this, burn the bottom inch or two of the stem with a lighter after a fresh cut before placing it in water.
How to pick the perfect rose: gently squeeze the bottom of the bloom. If the bottom of the bloom is soft the rose will only last a day or two. If it’s firm - buy it. It should last close to a week.
Growing your own flowers and dealing with bugs or mildew? Spray with neem oil? Mix 2 tablespoons of neem oil with 1 gallon of water.