Top 6 Tips for Caring For Your Fresh Cut Flowers
You purchased a beautiful bouquet of flowers (preferably from Glory Flower Farm!) and you walk into your house with them, you absolutely are in love with the bouquet you picked out and want to enjoy their beauty for as long as possible...so what do you do next?
This may seem like such a simple question but so many of us have never been told what we can do to keep our flowers fresh for as long as possible, we just toss them in a vase with some water and think that's all there is to it.
Well I've been learning a lot about how to handle flowers after they've been harvested from the field to keep them alive and healthy for as long as possible and I wanted to share these tips with you so that you can benefit from them too!
TIP #1
After arriving home take the flowers out of their packaging and cut the stems about 1 inch at an angle. Trimming them at an angle gives the stem more surface area to better be able to drink water.
Make sure you're using clean shears or scissors when trimming the stems.
TIP #2
Now you're ready to put your flowers in a clean vase of your choosing! (Key word: CLEAN. Would you be willing to take a drink from this vase? If not, clean it again!)
Fill the vase halfway with water and you can add some flower food at this time to help keep bacteria growth at a minimum.
TIP #3
To help the water stay clean make sure all leaves on the stem that will be below the water are removed.
TIP #4
Place your vase of fresh flowers away from direct sunlight and heat.
You also don't want to place your flowers next to ripening fruits or vegetables, they emit a gas while ripening that shortens the life of cut flowers- not good!
TIP #5
Change the water every 1-2 days (remember, you want the water to stay clean enough that you'd be willing to drink it. If you wouldn't want to drink it then your flowers don't either!).
When you change out the water trim the stems again.
Pro Tip: Local, fresh cut flowers tend to drink a lot more water than the flowers that you may find at the grocery store that have been flown in from other countries. Try to keep a close eye on the water level so your flowers don't drink it all up!
TIP #6
Remove wilted flowers and leaves as needed to help keep the remaining flowers fresh for as long as possible.
There you have it! These are my top 6 tips to keep your cut flowers fresh so you can enjoy their beauty and the joy they bring you for as long as possible!
