How to keep your flowers fresher, longer!

Here's how:

1. Prepare to condition your flowers
Find a shallow basin and fill it with warm water so stems can be cut underwater. You will need scissors to cut paper or plastic wrap and stem cutters or a sharp knife for flowers. Cut the packaging away from the flowers. Strip the foliage below the container waterline and cut the stems individually or in groups underwater. Place immediately into vase or container.

2. Use clean vases of clean water.
Flowers need water - lots of it. They are happier and will live longer designed and maintained in a vase of water rather than in floral foam. Choose a clean appropriately sized vase that allows the stems a deep well of water. Cut each stem and arrange in the vase using a commercial floral preservative. If you do not have preservative, plain water is better than any home remedies.

3. Recut stems and change water often.
You can cut and rearrange your flowers every day to few days - whatever is your pleasure. I feel that recutting the stems and changing the water frequently is more important than using preservatives. However, preservatives serve us well because most often flowers are not cared for that way. Here are some things to consider...

Your once appropriate sized vase may be too big once you cut the stems. Move to a smaller vase and rearrange.

You may opt to separate your flowers into different groupings and move them into different rooms of your home as the stems get shorter and the vase gets smaller. Finally, when they are coming to the end of their life cycle, cut the stems 1/2" from the blooms and float them in a bowl of water (maybe accompanied by some floating candles, stones, or marbles).

I have often laid blooms and petals on a plate with some candles or in a bed of potpourri to let them dry naturally.

4. Enjoy weeks of pleasure.
Using this process I have enjoyed all kinds of flowers - even roses - for two weeks or longer.

-- Dottie Harrigan

The Yellow Rose Florist thanks FPO and Dottie Harrigan for their contribution to our site.