22 Feb Caring for your flowers – Florist tips
We all wish our flowers could last forever. ?Unfortunately we can’t make them last forever, but we can extend their life.
When a florist prepares flowers for sale they under take a process called ‘conditioning’. ?Conditioning put simply is ensuring the plant material is as full of water as possible. ?By implementing the following steps you can get the best out of your flowers.
If you bring your flowers home to place in a vase, ensure your vase is clean. ?After cleaning your vase with soapy water, wiping it out with bleach or vinegar will help to destroy any residual bacteria. ?Fill your vase with tepid water as flowers do not readily absorb cold water. ?For most flowers a quarter of water in the vase is sufficient.
Remove any leaves that will be under water to reduce bacteria growth. ?When a flower is out of water the bottom of the stem will try to seal to hold in as much moisture as possible. ?Cut about 2-3 cms from the stems with sharp snips or scissors at a 45 degree angle. Cutting the stems underwater will make sure no air locks lodge in the stem. ?Airlocks in stems can cause the heads of flowers to droop, particularly roses.
Keep flowers out of direct sunlight and away from heating and recut your stems and change the water every second day. ?Trim off any deteriorated blooms and remove any foliage that is past it’s used by to allow others to open and to maintain a fresh looking display.
It is also important to keep flowers that are arranged in green floral foam hydrated too. ?It is easy to ruin furniture by over filling arrangements, so ensure you do this over a sink and place a container under the arrangement. ? Fill the container with water making sure the foam never dries out. ?Foam will not re hydrate once it has dried. ?Some flowers will naturally expire before others, ensure dead flowers to prolong the other flowers life.
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