How To Keep Cut Flowers Fresh

If I were a flower..I would be a sunflower.  To always follow the sun.  Turn my back to darkness, Stand proud, tall and straight even with my head full of seeds.                                                                                     ~Pam Stewart
It's that time of year again, when I received $10 off any fresh-cut flowers from one of my favorite stores, Kennedy's Florist and Gifts.  Every year for our anniversary month and my birthday month, I receive this special coupon and usually I bring home sunflowers.  Mr. Cottage and I will be celebrating our 47th anniversary in one more week...

So I picked up the sunflowers last Thursday and told them they would be sitting in the car while I got a pedicure.  They put a "diaper" around the bottom of the stems and wrapped them up for me.  When I finally got up to the cottage, I finally put them into a vase...

A number of years ago, one of our kids worked for a wholesale florist and gave me many tips on keeping flowers fresh for a longer time span.  It's always worked for me, so I'm passing them onto you.

1. Start with a clean container.  I make it a habit to thoroughly clean all my vases after every use.  I let it dry completely before storing it away.
2. Use lukewarm water in your vase.
3. To this, depending on the size of your container, add approximately 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of liquid bleach and about 1 teaspoon granulated sugar.  Mix well.  The bleach will prevent bacteria from growing and the sugar helps to keep the flowers fresh.
4. Before putting your stems into the vase, cut each stem at a 45 degree angle and put them one at a time into the vase, after cutting.  This helps the stem from closing up and not taking in the water.
5. If you have leaves on the stem that will be submerged once they're in the vase, take them off.  You don't want any leaves below the surface of the water as they will decay quickly and form bacteria.  For my sunflowers, I didn't have to worry about this.
6. Put your flowers in a place away from direct sun or any surface that might produce heat.  If you're lucky enough to have space in your refrigerator, you can put your vase of flowers in the refrigerator at night and take out in the morning.  This will definitely help preserve them.
7. Every day, dispose of the old water and add new water with the bleach and sugar.  I also trim (at a 45 degree angle) each stem again, just to make sure it continues to take up the water.
8. If you take all these steps and precautions, your cut flowers will last anywhere from one to two weeks.

Have a beautiful day!

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