How to Care for Cut Flowers

We all want to enjoy our flowers for as long as possible. There are a few tricks that can help keep your flowers bright and perky just a little bit longer. Although these things are not necessary for your flowers, they will help extend the time in which you get to enjoy them.

If your flowers are not in a vase, the main objective will be to get them into water. Now you don’t have to superman-it home, they can last for a bit even if they start to look maybe… a little sad. They should perk right up once they are given time to rehydrate. Keep your flowers out of direct sun as they head to their new home, as with humans, sun can cause use to dehydrate and wilt, keeping them (and us) in a cool place out of direct light can offer them better protection, and less stress until they are able to be in water.

There are so many things you see on the internet about what can make your cut flowers last longer. Sprite, sugar, vinegar, and bleach are all some of the ideas thrown around. And yea, maybe some of those work, but for most people including myself we don’t need another thing to overly worry about in our life. So the simple easy tricks are.. drum roll please… changing the water and keeping them away from direct air flow.

Changing the water of your cut flowers daily or every other day is the easiest way to increase the life of your beautiful blooms. The tips and tricks spewed across the internet are usually trying to combat the bacterial and fungal buildup that forms in the water. The buildup is what starts to make the water look dirty quickly. By changing the water every 24-48 hours, this gives your flowers fresh clean water free of the buildup that can cause them to fade sooner than expected.

The next big thing is direct air flow. Some flowers like it cool, but no cut flowers like it hot. Flowers within a few feet of the line of air flow from a space heater can wilt very quickly. Zinnias and sunflowers don’t like direct cold air, so storing them near an A/C vent will likely shorten their vase life. So, the easiest rule of thumb is to keep any cut flowers away from any direct air flow (hot or cold), and stored at room temperature ( that being anywhere from 66- 73 degrees).

Cut flowers do not need direct sunlight. This is a common belief that many of my customers have mentioned when purchasing their flowers. Now there are some flowers that will close when it becomes dark, like anemones, but they do not require sunlight. Indoor lighting will encourage any flower that closes in darkness to open back up, but placing your arrangement next to a window where it receives sunlight is NOT necessary for cut flowers. If you would like your arrangement to sit in a sunny spot that’s okay, but make sure it does not get too hot, and definitely change the water consistently as the sunlight can encourage the bacterial and fungal growth in the water more quickly.

And that’s it! The easy guide to caring for your cut flowers. 1.Change the water 2. No direct air flow 3. Enjoy them!!!