Last week I gave you some tips for keeping holiday blooming plants happy. This week I want to talk about fresh flowers and flower arrangements.
Fresh flowers have their own unique way of adding life, color and happiness to our living spaces. Handing your host a wrapped bunch of fresh flowers will nearly always bring an appreciative smile.
So if that recipient is you, here’s where what you do will make a big difference in the life expectancy of those flowers.
Start with a clean vase. When flower stems are submerged in water in a vase, deterioration happens. You don’t need to like it, but that is nature’s process.
As the deterioration progresses, bacteria forms, and that bacteria will clog the pores in the stems where water should flow, virtually shutting off the water supply and resulting in wilted flowers.
The bacteria also clings to the inside of the vase, and unless you clean the vase after using it, that bacteria starts doing its thing immediately the next time it comes in contact with water.
If the dishwasher didn’t/can’t clean the vase, a 10-percent bleach solution sloshed inside will. Rinse with clean water and you’re ready to go.
Next step is adding preservative to the water as you fill the vase. That preservative will not only feed the flowers but will also slow the development of bacteria.
Then you need to re-cut the stems. When the stem is removed from water, as it dries, it forms a callous on the cut end. That’s another natural process for the flower stem to try to retain what moisture it has. Re-cutting the stem removes that callous and allows intake of the water/preservative solution.
Cutting the stem on an angle gives a larger surface for water absorption and keeps the stem from sitting flat on the bottom of the vase.
Remove any foliage that would be submerged in the water – again the bacteria issue – and arrange the flowers as you like. Place the vase in an area away from direct sunlight and any heat source. Add water as you notice the water level dropping, but changing the water in the vase eliminates the preservative that you started with.
For flower arrangements arranged in floral foam in a container, all you have to do is be sure to add water … at least every other day! The size of the block of foam in relation to the size of the container determines how much of a reservoir for water is available.
The only way you have to determine the water level is to try to stick your finger between the wall of the container and the foam. If the foam dries out, the flowers are finished.
I see stores offering arrangements of Christmas greens stuffed in holiday-themed containers with little if any water reservoir. Making sure water is always available to keep that foam saturated will ensure that this type of arrangement will last for several weeks. … The alternative is a couple of days.