How to Make Cut Flowers Last Longer

There is nothing quite like an arrangement of cut flowers for adding a feeling of freshness and beauty to any space in your home or office. Whether you pick simple wildflowers in a field, buy fresh flowers at the supermarket or at a farmer's market, cut flowers from your garden, or receive flowers as a gift for a special occasion no doubt you will want to make them last as long as possible. Here are some easy tips on how to make cut flowers last longer.

Once you have picked or purchased your cut flowers you will need to do a few things to them in order to have them last as long as possible. The first thing you should do is to re-cut the flower stems. You should use a sharp pair of garden shears to cut the stems and cut them at about a 45 degree angle removing approximately 1 in. from the bottom of each stem. You should also remove any foliage from the part of the stems that will be below the water level in the vase. Do not use your regular household scissors to cut the stems since they are not sharp enough and can crush the stems and inhibit water uptake. Ideally you should cut the stems under lukewarm running water and then place them in a vase also filled with lukewarm water immediately after cutting.

To make cut flowers last longer it is important to use the right kind of water mixture in your vase. The ideal water for your flowers will work to inhibit the growth of bacteria while providing food for the flowers and helping to maximize the amount of water that the flowers take in. You can buy commercially prepared floral preservatives or you can make your own. Most homemade recipes for flower preservatives are easy to make and call for the use of sugar which provides food for the flowers, bleach to help prevent the growth of bacteria, and some sort of citric acid to help acidify the water.

When filling a medium to large sized vase with water (around 1 quart) try adding a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of household bleach and a tablespoon of lemon juice to lukewarm water. You can adjust the amount of bleach, sugar and water that you use according to the size of vase you have. Use less for small vases and more for vases that are very large.

Ideally your water should contain low levels of fluoride which can cause damage to the flowers. That means that whenever possible you should use distilled water. If you do not have distilled water on hand just use the best water that you can get.

Taking just these few simple steps can help your cut flowers last longer and keep them looking beautiful so you can continue enjoying them.