Cut Flower Care - Caring For Cut Flowers

With proper flower care, most commercially grown flowers should last at least a week if treated properly.

Some cut flower varieties will last longer than others - if you want something particularly long lasting, just ask your florist

Top Tips for making your cut flowers last longer:

1. Make sure vases are very clean.

2. Use fresh lukewarm water with commercial cut flower food added.

3. Remove any leaves that will be below the water level.

4. Cut at least 3cm (1 inch) off all stems, making a slanted cut with a sharp knife or very sharp scissors (placing in water immediately afterwards).

5. Avoid direct sunlight, heat, or draughts which can drastically shorten flowers' lives.

6. Keep flowers away from fruit as it gives off 'ripening' gasses that will prematurely age your flowers!

7. Top up the water regularly with added flower food in proportion.

DO

Buy flowers from a reputable outlet, and choose blooms with firm petals or with buds that show a degree of colour to ensure the flowers will develop fully.

Ask for and use cut flower food if it is not already supplied. This contains the correct ingredients to:

a) feed the flowers properly,

b) keep bacteria at bay (which blocks the stem and stops water uptake),

c) encourage buds to open,

d) lengthen the life of the flowers.

Snip the corner off a one-dose sachet and add it to the vase water is simple and effective - and scientifically tested to make your flowers last longer.

Use lukewarm water - there's less oxygen in it, and helps prevent air bubbles in the stem that will block water uptake. It also encourages some flowers to open up. The only exception to this is spring bulb flowers like daffodils and tulips which prefer cold water.

Use thoroughly clean vases - bacteria kills flowers.

Cut stems at an angle - this gives the stem a bigger area to take up more water, and stops it resting on the bottom of the vase and sealing itself.

Different types of flowers must be harvested at appropriate stages in their development. Flowers with multiple buds on each stem should have at least one bud showing colour and one bud starting to open before being cut. This is true for spike flowers (salvias, agastaches, delphiniums, Eremurus, gladioli, snapdragons, stocks, larkspurs, and the like) as well as cluster flowers (agapanthus, Alstroemeria, baby's breath, Clarkia, lilacs, phlox, Queen Anne's lace, verbenas, yarrow, and silenes, for example). If gathered too early—while they're still tightly budded—these flowers will not open in a vase of water.

By contrast, flowers that grow on individual stems (such as asters, calendulas, chrysanthemums, dahlias, Datura, gerbera daisies, marigolds, sunflowers, Tithonia, and zinnias) should be cut when fully open.

When selecting foliage, look for firm leaves and stems with strong coloration.

DON'T

DON'T - Smash or pierce the stems, or use blunt scissors, as this destroys the water vessels and inhibits water uptake, and causes bacteria to multiple more quickly and over a larger area. It also causes the flower undue stress which shortens its life.

DON'T - Mix daffodils and narcissi with other flowers. They emit latex from their stems when cut, which is known as `daffodil slime', and shortens the life of other flowers. Keep daffodils alone in vases, or use the special bulb cut flower food which makes them safe to mix with other flowers. You can place the daffodils in a bucket of water for at least 12 hours on their own and then arrange them with other flowers, making sure you do not cut the stem again.

DON'T - Put flowers near ripening fruit – it releases tiny amounts of ethylene gas which prematurely ages flowers. Dying flowers do the same so always remove them from the vase.

DON'T - Place flowers in a draught which chills the flowers, or in bright sunlight which encourages bacteria to breed. Keep them away from over-warm central heating.

DON'T - Put copper coins, aspirin, lemonade, or bleach in the water. They're popular tricks but they don't work, and they can't feed your flowers adequately.