How to care for your bouquet… 7 tips

Many things can prolong or shorten the vase life of your flowers! Here are some of the most important things to remember!

Let's start with transporting your flowers!

-Keep your flowers at a stable temperature. This means don’t leave your flowers in a hot or a freezing cold car (cool is fine, but remember cars can warm up on sunny cold days). Basically if you wouldn't leave the dog or your kid in the car while you run the rest of your errands, don't leave your flowers in there either.

Now let's talk about when you first get your flowers home! Start with step one if your flowers were transported out of water. Skip to step three if you received your flowers in a vase with water.

1. Trim your stems. Trimming a 1/4” or more off your stems will eliminate any bits that have been clogged with bacteria or become dehydrated. Trim your stems at a 45 degree angle. This allows the most surface area for your flower to drink from, and it keeps the stems from “sealing” to the bottom of your vase.

2. Find a vase! A clean vase! Many florists would say, “if you wouldn’t drink out of your vase, you shouldn’t make your flowers drink out of it either!” I like using glass vases and will run my vases through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle between bouquets to keep them clean.

Use flower food if it’s available. Flower food helps to keep your water clean for longer and nourish your flowers. Flower food is made of several components but the two important ones are a bactericide (kills bacteria) and a sugar to feed the flowers. Do make sure to follow the instructions on the packet for dilution! I find it helpful to dilute and mix the flower food in a separate container and then add the mixture to my vase. All market bouquets and subscription bouquets will come with a packet of Flower food.

Remove any leaves that will go down into the water, this will eliminate bacteria which will dirty the water faster.

3.Find the right place for your bouquet! You want to choose a place that is out of direct sunlight and also isn't near a heat source.

-the garden or bay window that your houseplant loves is actually one of the worst places to put your cut flowers!

4. Enjoy! Gaze upon your flowers and let their natural beauty lift your mood and spirits.

Now let's talk about maintenance to keep your flowers looking great!

5.Watch the water level in your vase! This may seem like a no-brainer, but even I can be surprised at how thirsty flowers can be! Insuring that the water level hasn’t dropped below the stems will keep your flowers happy and hydrated!

6. Every 1-2 days change your vase water! If the water is cloudy, that’s not good! Change the water at least every other day. Also re-trim your stems when you change your water. If you are worried about running out of your flower food mixture you can top off your vase to start, but if the water is cloudy, it needs a total change and this is also a good time to switch vases if you have that option available. Clean the first vase to eliminate bacteria buildup. You can also contact me for additional flower food packets if you are using a large vase and going through a lot of water during changes.

7. Be mindful of your water source. Water that has come through a water softener system can drastically shorten the vase life of your flowers. If you feel like your flowers aren’t lasting as long as they should, please reach out to me so I can trouble shoot the issue, (I can always provide additional water for you to top off your jar if needed).

If you have any questions I haven’t answered here, feel free to reach out to me directly or drop a comment below!