How to extend the life of cut flowers … home helper
If you’ve received a lovely bouquet from Hill Street Home for your birthday or Mother’s Day, you will want to do everything to make them last as long as possible in the vase. What are the important things to do to extend the life of your beautiful blooms?
First things first – unwrap them and recut their stems at an angle about an inch from the bottom, to assist with water uptake.
Next, remove any foliage at or below water level. If left on, these will rot and promote bacterial growth, which will hasten deterioration of the flowers themselves due to rotting stems and contaminated water.
Fill up your chosen vase and make up your own flower preservative by adding two tablespoons of lemon juice, one tablespoon of sugar, and one quarter of a tablespoon of bleach to one litre of water. If you don’t want to use bleach, an alternative recipe is two tablespoons of white vinegar and two tablespoons of sugar, to one litre of water. In both cases the vinegar or bleach/lemon juice inhibits bacterial growth, and the sugar provides food for the flowers.
Change the water every few days (the flowers should last up to a week) and top up with your flower preservative.
Lastly, keep them away from direct sunlight or heating and cooling vents. If your house is centrally heated and warm at night, place the vase in a cooler spot (perhaps the laundry if it is unheated) overnight.
