We looooove fresh flowers in the home! It’s a little luxury in life that we think is more than worth the expense, especially when with a bit of care you can significantly extend the life of your flowers. Here’s how…
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1. Use the plant food sachet
Good florists will provide a sachet of plant food that you can add to the water of your fresh flowers. Plant food will help your cut flowers stay alive by providing the nutrients and clean environment they need.
2. Then keep feeding your flowers with DIY plant food
If you aren’t provided with plant food or you change the water and want to replace the nutrients, you can make your own plant food at home by simply mixing 1 teaspoon of raw sugar and 1 teaspoon of household bleach into the water.
It sounds weird to add bleach to the water (isn’t it toxic?!) but according to head florist at Barton Flower Bar, it helps to keep the water clean and aids the flowers to drink.
3. Refresh the stems
You hear this a lot but how often do you really do it? Regularly trimming the stems of your flowers can help extend the life of them to up 3 weeks!
The stems of your flowers become blocked over time so simply trimming them on a 45 degree angle will reopen them and create the maximum surface area to take in water and nutrients.
4. Regularly change water
Fresh flowers need a lot of water! Replace the water in the vase at least every 2-3 days and notice how much longer they last.
5. Remove dead flowers and leaves
Just because one or two flowers have wilted, doesn’t mean you need to throw away the whole bunch!
Removing dead flowers or foliage before they drop into the water of the vase will prevent them deteriorating in the water where they can become mouldy. Also remove all leaves from the stems below the water line.
6. Give new life with a bit of foraging
As you remove any dead flowers or branches from your bouquet you can bulk up the arrangement by doing a little foraging of your own.
It’s becoming more popular to incorporate greenery you would find in a common garden into floral arrangements so look for Ivy, Magnolia or Camellia.
7. Quality supplier
Of course, it’s easier to extend the life of your flowers if you buy them from a quality supplier that brings them in fresh.
Support your local florist, such as Pearsons Florist that offers flower delivery in Sydney, as they will source the freshest flowers. Many florists are also happy to work with you to create arrangements to suit your interior style or colour scheme.
Do you have any other tips to extend the life of cut flowers? We’d love you to share any tips to keep flowers looking fresh in the comments below!
Check out more plant care tips here
