Tips for Long Lasting Flowers

Fresh flowers are beautiful and brighten up any room, but how do you make sure they live their longest and keep them fresh? Here are some of Terry’s tips for long-lasting flower arrangements.

The style you choose:
The shorter bowl-style arrangements will usually keep longer than taller vase arrangements. In a shorter bouquet, the water has less distance to travel, so it gets to the flower heads more easily. Also, when doing a pave type arrangement where the heads are gathered together, the flowers help keep each other up and lessen the chances of drooping.

Take notice:
l Keep the water fresh and change it every few days – the fresher the water the happier the flower.
l Some flowers can give off a sap that kills other flowers. Changing the water will help prevent this.
l Keep arrangements away from appliances that give off heat, such as a television or microwave.
l Keep fresh cut flowers out of direct sunlight, as it will burn them.

Feeding your flowers
You can use a flower food/preservative that should come with your flowers, or make your own. Here is a simple flower food you can use for arrangements:
l 1 cup regular 7-Up
l 1 cup water
l ½ teaspoon household bleach
The 7-Up provides sugar for the flowers and the bleach keeps bacteria from going up the stem and killing the bud.

Flowers that have the longest cut life:
Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lilies)
Gladiolas
Orchids
Lisianthus
Mums (there are great Spider Mums available)
Tropicals: Anthurium Lilies, Birds of Paradise, Ginger
Roses: Many hearty roses will give you a week, Spray roses last a particularly long time.
Roses vary and each color is like a different flower. Some can last a week and some just a few days. Some have large petal counts while others have much smaller ones. Some roses burst open and stay that way for a week while others keep a bud shape throughout their lives.

The more hollow the stem, the shorter the flower’s vase life will be.
Hollow stem examples include:
Tulips
Gerbera Daisies
Anemones
Iris