Flower Care
We all know that fresh flowers don’t last very long. To get the most out of them requires taking a few easy steps.
Where you choose to place your flowers is an important step. You want to make sure they are not in direct sunlight or under an air duct. This will further speed up the decomposition process. Especially hot air from a heater.
Begin by inspecting the flowers for any spoiled blooms. You want to remove any dead or mushy blooms as these would further spoil the rest of your flowers. to be extra thorough give the stems a quick rise under the sink to wash off any debris.
If you are bringing the flowers home from a grocery store or have cut the flowers from your own garden you want to remove any leaves that would be touching any of the water in the vase. The leaves contaminate the water and our goal is to keep the water clean.
you want to proceed to cut the end of the stems with some sharp pruners. This may be needed as some stems are hard & woody.
Please be careful when handling sharp objects.
Cut the stems up to the healthiest point at an angle. This ensures the stems have a larger surface area to drink water. As an added step to ensure a longer vase life add an additional vertical cut at the end of hard & woody stems. Such as hydrangeas, greens, sunflowers, and roses to name a few.
Change the water every day to every other day. I judge this based on how murky and dirty the water is. Bacteria growth speeds up the decomposition process and stagnant water doesn't have much benefit to the flowers. A plus to changing the water more frequently is that you won't need to wash your vase out with soap as often but some would say to wash it every time.
Conventional flower food is convenient if you have it. It is not necessary if you have a few easy to find products-items at home. You can drop a penny in the water.
Look for a penny minted before 1982 as these are made mainly of copper.
Copper has antimicrobial properties that fight off the growth of bacteria; as a result keeps your flowers from withering away so quickly. You can also use a little sugar, lemon and vinegar. Depending on the volume of water in your vase I would add in a 2:1:1 ratio of the mixture in some fresh water. The sugar feeds the flowers, lemon and vinegar inhibit bacteria growth. Another option is using a tiny amount of bleach instead of the vinegar but I don't prefer this method as much as the others.
Follow these guidelines and you will be able to enjoy your fresh blooms much longer than if you were to just leave it in the vase with the same water it came in.