If you love having cut flowers in your home but wish they'd last longer, there are some easy things you can do to lengthen their vase life.
Steps
Part 2
Part 2 of 3:
Prepare Your Flowers
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Remove any leaves that will be below the water line. If you leave them, they'll start to foul the water and your flowers will die sooner.
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Cut an inch or two from the stem at a 45º angle immediately before placing them in the warm water. This will increase in the amount of water your flowers consume, increasing the flower's lifespan.
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Make sure there's enough room in your vase. Flowers are alive and they need to breathe. If your vase is too crowded, either use a larger vase or move some of the flowers to a different vase.Advertisement
Part 3
Part 3 of 3:
Keeping Your Flowers Fresh
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Change the water as needed. Replace the water every day to keep your flowers fresh. Make sure any debris or wet leaves are removed from the vase before adding fresh water.
- Be sure the ends on all stems and in the water. Pay attention to the flowers with shorter stems.
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Trim the stems regularly. Trim the stems every every couple of days when you're changing the water. Use something sharp to cut the stems at a 45º angle. An angled cut increases the surface area the flower can use to absorb water.
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Water flower arrangements with foam. A florist may use floral foam to hold your flowers in place. Simply pour water on the foam (never the flowers) or let the foam soak in a basin of water.
- You would dump the excess water out of the vase the same way you’d dump water from a traditional flower arrangement.
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Use a flower preservative when changing the water. This will insure your flowers have all what they need to thrive.
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Choose a good place to display your flowers. While esthetics matter, you need to keep your flowers in the best possible environment to keep them longer.
- Keep cut flowers away from direct sun and other sources of heat.
- Avoid placing them near fruit, which releases ethylene gas that will speed up the maturation process and cause wilting.
- Drafts and breezes, even cool ones, can reduce the flowers' lifespan by encouraging evaporation from the petals and leaves.
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Remove wilted flowers. Cut off all wilting flowers whenever you notice them so they don't shorten the life of your flowers. Wilting flowers release ethylene gas which will encourage your fresh flowers to speed up their life cycle and wilt prematurely.Advertisement
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Tips
- If the rose flowers are droopy and hanging down before they should be, dunk the entire rose under warm water and let it sit to attempt to rehydrate it.Thanks
- Get your flowers in water as soon as you can.Thanks
- Keep the water clean.Thanks
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