How to Care for Your Cut Flowers

If you have sensitive skin, you may want to slip on gloves when handling a bouquet. While to some this may seem overkill, I once reacted amaranth of all things. While we grow our flowers organically with no chemicals it's impossible to know how our bodies will react when encountering plants/foliage we have never handled.

Start with a clean vase. Even if the vase is clean and has been sitting out for a while go ahead and give it a fresh wash since it may have collected dust. Bacteria and debris from an unclean vase can quickly clog up the stem and cause your beautiful flowers to wilt.

Fill your vase up with room temperature water. Water that is too hot or too cold can cause shock. Remove any foliage that would sit below the water line to avoid debris and bacteria from accumulating. Add the entire packet of flower food that came with your bouquet.

Cut off at least an inch from the bottom of the stems at a 45-degree angle. This opens fresh stem tissue so the flowers can drink better, and the angle allows for more stem surface area to drink from.

At this stage, you can cut some longer or shorter to give the bouquet a little shape in the vase. A good rule of thumb is to cut the flowers no more than 1 ½ to 2 times the height of the vase. If possible, try to find a vase or container that compliments the size of the bouquet. Choosing a vessel that is too big can make the bouquet seem small and inadequate while picking one too small can squish together those pretty flower faces.

On the second day top up the water, but do not change it as this will give one more day for the flowers to drink up the packeted flower food.

Each day thereafter replace the water entirely. Do this by removing the flowers giving the vase a good rinse and refilling the vase with water and the flowers. At this point assess the bouquet and remove any flowers that are past their prime to keep the overall look fresh.

Keep your flowers out of direct sunlight or in rooms that are too hot since this will speed up decay (this is why florists keep their flowers in coolers).

Keep the flowers away from your fruit/vegetable bowl. I know this sounds silly but some fruit can put off ethylene gas after they are cut and sit for a while. Ethylene gas can accelerate flower wilting.