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.