Flower Gardens

» Cottage_Garden - Bouquet Care

Did you get flowers for Valentine's Day yesterday? You probably want them to last as long as possible. Here are some tips to keeping cut flowers fresh longer.

Cut flowers do best if kept cool and out of direct sun and away from heat sources like a radiator or heat vent or fire place mantel.

Change the water daily. Use tepid water.

Recut the stems daily or every other day. Cut at a slant. Cut under water to avoid getting an air bubble in the stem.

Strip foliage off the lower part of the stem so there is no foliage underwater in the vase.

Keep away from ripening fruit (they give off ethylene) and also remove fading petals and then faded blooms for the same reason.

Additives can help. Use a commercial additive for cut flowers and follow the label directions.

Old wives' tale methods can help, but there is some logic behind the tales. The copper penny helps acidify the water, the clear nondiet soda adds some sugar, and the drops of bleach help prevent algae and bacteria in the water (and stem.) Using a commercial additive is easier.....

The length of time any cut flowers or bouquet will last once you get it home depends partly on how you care for them, what kind of flowers you have, and also on how they were handled before you got them.

Enjoy those flowers!

-- posted by Cottage_Garden