Request: Make Your Cut Flowers Last Longer
Archived on 05/11/2009
By Colleen Moulding
Nothing lifts a room like fresh flowers, but they can be expensive. Here are ten tips to help you get the best out of your arrangements.
- Buy flowers still in bud. You get the pleasure of watching them open and they will have a longer vase life than those bought in full bloom.
- When you get your flowers home, strip off any leaves that will be below the water line, cut off the bottoms of the stems and give them a good long drink of lukewarm water.
- Add a few drops of household bleach to the flower water to guard against the slime caused by bacteria and add a spoonful of sugar instead of commercially produced flower food.
- Woody stemmed flowers like roses benefit from having the bottoms of their stems crushed and then split to help them take up water.
- Bulb flowers such as daffodils should have their stems snipped across at an angle. Washing away the sticky white secretion will lengthen their life, too.
- To stop tulips flopping over, wrap the bunch tightly in wet newspaper and leave them in two to three inches of water for about one and a half hours. Push small pins through the stems just below the flower heads and they will stay soldier straight.
- Don't leave flowers in warm rooms overnight. Extend their life by putting them in the coldest room in the house while you are asleep.
- Improvise vases for any occasion by wrapping bottles, jars or plastic containers with tissue paper, fabric, or coloured net, tied with ribbon, raffia or cord. Use tiny flower prints or gingham for a casual country look, swagged silky fabric, bright or pastel tissue paper for more formal occasions. Or overlap shiny leaves around the outside of a glass and tie with raffia before arranging your flowers inside.
- Place your floral arrangement in front of a mirror and it will look twice as big and beautiful.
- Finally don't forget to top up your vases with fresh water every day for long lasting displays.
About The Author: © Colleen Moulding 2000 - Colleen Moulding is a freelance writer living in the south of England. She is also owner/editor of All That Women Want.com http://www.allthatwomenwant.com a magazine, web guide and resource for women everywhere. We Know What You Want! Home, Parenting, Women's Biz, Work At Home, Fashion, Kid's Sites, Entertainment, Antiques and more. Come on over to http://www.allthatwomenwant.com It was made for you! Subscribe to the FREE monthly e-zine by sending a blank e-mail to allthatwomenwant-subscribe@onelist.com
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Keep Your Cut Flowers Fresh Longer
Mix two tablespoons of both, sugar and vinegar to a quart of water. Mix it well. Place flowers in a vase, and add needed amount of this mix in vase. Sugar feeds and vinegar keeps your flowers fresh.
By Gladys H. (11/20/2004)
By ThriftyFun
RE: Make Your Cut Flowers Last Longer
Add an aspirin and a multivitamin to the water to make your flowers last longer (11/20/2004)
By Mish
RE: Make Your Cut Flowers Last Longer
Colleen has told it right. 1 Tbsp. bleach to a gallon of water will do the job of adding to the life of fresh flowers. Having been a floral designer for many years I feel I'm qualified to add my 2 cents worth. Before the commercial additives were available, bleach was the only thing used.
(no need to add sugar, 7up, aspirin, pennies or anything else)
The main thing is to remove the leaves below the water line and replace the water every day or two, and give the flowers a fresh cut, about 1/2 inch. Do "not" put flowers or plants on the TV or near heat, or in front of a sunny/hot window.
And if you have flowers that are starting to look limp, cut them off about an inch or two, place them in HOT, not boiling water then put them, container and all in the frig for about 6-8 hours or over night. This works most of the time to get a few extra days use of them. It also works if you cut roses from your yard, helps them last as long as two weeks. Enjoy flowers, even if it is just one bloom at a time. (11/20/2004)
By Great granny Vi
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