Make Cut Flowers Last Longer

There's nothing like having fresh cut flowers in your home. They can add fragrance and beauty to a space. But once a flower is cut from the bush, its life span is drastically shortened. Without some way to help preserve them, they will only last a few days. Here is one way to help your flowers live longer in your home.

Flowers should be picked at their peak of freshness, preferably during early morning or after sundown. Use a sharp stem cutter, knife or pruning shears. It doesn't matter whether you cut the stems on the slant or straight across. To help preserve the flowers until you place them in a vase; immediately upon cutting, plunge the flowers deeply into moderately cool water. Don't leave them exposed to the air for very long, the flowers could wilt. Before placing in a vase, remove all foliage from the stem portion that will be submerged in water and make a fresh stem cut, either straight or slanted.

Wash and rinse the vase thoroughly before using to remove any residue that might be inside. When submerging the flowers the amount of water used is immaterial, as long as stems are submerged in the water. However, the more water, the greater chance of bacterial invasion. Arrange flowers so as not to overcrowd.

Use a flower preservative to help control bacteria growth. It can add days to the life span of cut flowers; help develop unopened buds on spike flowers; encourage fuller blooms and prevent fading. Select the preservative recommended for the predominant flower in your arrangement.

Add a little cool water as needed every day or so. You do not have the change the water daily, re-cut the stems or add more preservative. Keep cut flowers cool (40^oor 50^o F), out of the sun and away from drafts and keep them in a room of high humidity.

Decrease the strong smell of the marigolds by removing the foliage and placing the stems in sugar water solution (1/2 cup of sugar to 1 quart of water). Snip the lower florets from snapdragons, delphinium, gladioli and stock as soon as they have passed their prime, to foster bloom of the upper buds.

Adding sugar to the water for sweet peas, delphinium and carnations results in a few more days of life, but the water must be changed frequently.

Partially wilted flowers can often be revived in a solution consisting of level teaspoons of any available household detergent per quart of water. Simply place the bottom of the stems in the detergent water for one hour but not longer than two hours or flowers may be poisoned. The detergent will break open the dried up food pipelines in the stem, allowing water to move through the stem. After removing from detergent water, place flowers in flower preservatives. Add fresh water.

I know these procedures might seem like a lot of work, but if you truly enjoy fresh flowers in your home, then it's a small price to pay for happiness.