Having fresh cut flowers in your home or at your desk is a great way to decorate and add cheer as well. The longer the flowers last, the more you and everyone else get to enjoy them. This is a guide about making your cut flowers last longer.
Another tip for keeping flowers fresh and even for revival is to put some fizzy clear lemonade into the water. This will revive them fantastically.
Penny from Cornwall, England
Keep them in ice water, as much as you can. Store them in the refrigerator at night (in the winter, you can put them outside on the back porch). I have gotten cut flowers to last 2 weeks this way.
By Vicki from Dallas, TX
Did you get some cut flowers? Here's a little prep work you can do to make them last longer. Using pruning shears, make a fresh cut at the bottom of the stem. Do this under running water. Don't use scissors for this, they will crush the stems and make it harder for them them to absorb water.
Strip away all leaves that will be below the water line of the vase. Those leaves will rot more quickly if you don't remove them. Make sure to clean out the vase before putting the new flowers in. Change the water once a day add 2 tablespoons of sugar to act as preservatives for your flowers.
What are your tips for caring for cut flowers? Post them below.
My husband knows that I love fresh flowers so he brings them home to me quite often. Last week, I received some beautiful fresh red roses, which I immediately put in a vase. However, we happened to go away that weekend, and when we came back the roses had drooped considerably, but otherwise were not in bad shape.
I remembered that florists sometimes use wire to hold up the heads of flowers. I had the idea of using sections of clear plastic straws instead. I cut the straw in 3 pieces, and then slit them along the side. That way, I could slip the straw section over the part of the stem near the bloom, where it was sagging. Voila! A little fussing with the placement in the vase, and I had a bouquet which would last a few more days.
For more support of the drooping stem, you can tape the straw section together, once it's on the stem, with clear tape. Also remember that it's best to try to arrange the flowers with the reinforcement AGAINST the droop to better withstand it.
By Pam from Los Angeles, CA
To prolong the life of cut flowers in a vase, add a couple of drops of chlorine bleach. Never submerse any of the stem with leaves in the water. It adds to the decay factor.
By Teresa from Vine Grove, KY
To make fresh cut flowers last longer, use 1/2 water and 1/2 soda, such as Sprite or any clear color soda. Your flowers will last for weeks and weeks and they will remain beautiful.
By Dawn from Newburgh, NY
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.
How do I make cut flowers last longer in a vase?
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