Make Fresh Flowers Last Longer – Pro-Florist Tips

_{The season for fresh-cut flowers is here! Follow these pro tips for keeping fresh flowers lasting beautifully longer. You’ll be glad that you took the time to do these tips. Allowing you to enjoy your arrangements longer.}

How To Keep Fresh Flowers Lasting Beautiful Longer!

Fresh flowers are simply beautiful. Nothing brightens a room quite like a vase of fresh flowers. Even though most bouquets come with a little packet of “fresh keeper”, it often seems like our flowers are still not lasting as long as we would like.

I have found that even with the use of that little packet, flowers start to wilt in just days. What gives? My Aunt Rose is a professional florist. I had a chance to sit down with her and ask for her professional tips. Her expert tips will help keep your flowers lasting beautifully for much longer.

As a rule of thumb, professionally cut flowers on average will last about a week, after that point, they will start to wilt. Carnations and mums last slightly longer since they are hardier plants.

Before you display your flowers in a vase, there are some steps you are going to want to do first to keep fresh flowers lasting longer.

Read More Smart Tips on Inspiring Savings

Cut Stems Under the Water 

The key to Keep Fresh Flowers Lasting Beautiful Longer is to reduce contaminants and prevent bacterial growth. If you need to cut the flowers to fit inside your vase.

Fill your sink with water and cut them underwater at a 45-degree angle. Cutting stems underwater can prevent air bubbles and help the flowers to absorb more moisture. It will also remove any previously growing bacteria.

Remove Bottom Foliage To Prevent Decay

By removing foliage on the bottoms of stems will help keep flowers lasting longer. Those extra leaves will need water to upkeep, but they don’t add any elegance to your display. Plus, any leaves left in the water will cause the flower to wilt more quickly.  

These leaves provide bacteria a nice habitat (remove the surface area – less is better)

Remove Any Petals That Are Wilting

This is important. You most definitely need to remove ANY dead or wilting petals. This essentially makes your bouquet look fresh. No one wants to leave dead petals on their flowers.

Support Flimsy Flowers And Stems

When working with stems that are flimsy or heads of flowers that tend to droop (such as tulips and roses), slip a clear straw on the stem to give additional support and push quilt pins down into the middle of the flower head to hold floppy flowers upright.

Do Use The Fresh Packet

If your floral arrangement came with a fresh packet, make sure to mix it in with fresh water. This little packet is filled with nutrient-rich plant food that will keep your flowers looking beautiful. Did your arrangement not come with a fresh packet?

No worries. You can make your own with this quick recipe mixture.

• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• A few drops of household bleach
• 1 qt of warm water

Use A Clean Vase

Always use a sparkling clean vase that has been washed in hot, soapy water and rinsed well. This will help remove any microorganisms. The biggest threat to your beautiful bouquet will come in the form of bacteria. 

Cleaning your vase will help eliminate the introduction of any unwanted friends. Next, you want to use warm water to help with absorption and to avoid shocking the stems. Then, let the water sit for a few minutes to let gases in the water dissipate.

Now that you have completed all these steps and your flowers are being displayed beautifully, let us go over a few more pro-tips. These tips will help you maintain your arrangement longer.

Want to learn how to create a beautiful-looking flower arrangement? – It can be very easy with this Flower Arrangement Guide

Keep Flowers In A Cool Area and Not In Direct Sun

Too much warmth or too little sunlight will make the flowers wilt more quickly. Make sure to keep them away from fruits and vegetables. They give off ethylene gas, which will wilt your flowers super fast.

FTD florists featured an experiment on their company’s blog, which showed that putting flowers in the refrigerator overnight helped to keep the flowers alive for a longer time. So, if you can fit your flowers in the refrigerator, the cold temperature will help preserve them.

I would consider doing this at night while your flowers are not on display. After all, who wants to keep their beautiful flowers locked up in the fridge 24 hours a day? Not me!

Make Sure The Water Is Clear

 If the water gets cloudy, put fresh water and re-cut stems about an inch. Cloudy water means bacteria are building up. I would follow up by adding the fresh packet or using the recipe mixture listed above.

 If you have life-extending flower tips that have worked for you, we would love to hear them. I know that you have a frugal mind, as I do. Making those flowers last long is a saving in itself. 

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