Top Ten Tips for Long-lasting Flowers
Have you ever had flowers sent to you and been disappointed when they didn't last well. These are some simple ideas to get the best from your next bouquet.
on arrival
When your flowers arrive resist the temptation to leave any wrapping on them. Get them into a vase as quickly as possible otherwise the wrapping stops the air circulating round the flowers and makes them more susceptible to bacteria. This shows as brown spots on the petals that eventually spreads and the whole flower collapses.
Check as you put them in your vase that no leaves will be under the water. If they will then remove them otherwise they will rot and spoil the water.
Make sure you use water with flower food added to it to keep the water clear and make the flowers develop to their full size and best colour.
An extra thing to note with roses is that they hate the water from aerated taps. For roses run the water into the vase but then leave it 30 minutes before putting the roses into the water.
choosing a spot
Temperature is one of the key things that influences how long your flowers last. Most flowers love a cool environment - a flower wholesaler keeps them in temperatures similar to your fridge! Orchids and anthuriums are some important exceptions to that rule.
Real flower killers are radiators, TV sets (although it is much harder to pp your flowers on top of the average flat screen TV than the big TVs of my childhood) and direct sunshine.
If you do consistently have problems with flowers dying quickly it could just be that your house is too warm for most flowers and it is worth trying tropical flowers instead as they have a longer life in warm temperatures.
So ideally you need a cool spot away from any heat sources (and air conditioning units too) and in a bright spot away from direct sun in the heat of the day.
ongoing care
Every 3 days get a fresh vase or clean the existing one (don't ever put clean water into a dirty vase otherwise you are wasting your effort). Put water with flower food into it, you can buy flower food from a garden centre or florist. Get some nice sharp scissors (preferably steel bladed rather than stainless steel as they stay sharp better and longer) and cut 2 or 3cm off the bottom of the stems cutting at a 45 degree angle. Then put your flowers into their new water.
If any flowers are going over remove them from your bouquet, cutting any tape or string holding the bouquet together, as the fadng flowers will give off ethelyne that will increase the speed that other flowers age. This is the same science that means adding a ripe banana next you your unripe fruit helps them ripen.
10 step summary
1. Unwrap
2. Leaves off
3. Flower food
4. 30 minute water
5. Not hot
6. 3 day change
7. Clean vase
8. New water
9. Cut stems
10. Ditch dying
