Fresh-cut flowers are a beautiful addition to your home. They infuse life, color, and aroma in your space and brighten up the entire room. Unfortunately, it always seems that once you bring home a fresh arrangement or bouquet, it only takes a few days for the flowers to begin to wilt.
But if you walk by your flowers and notice they’re looking worse for the wear, don’t start planning their funeral just yet. Try these steps to bring them back to life and you just might be able to enjoy them for longer than you thought!
Snip the stems.
When flowers in your house start to die, it’s usually because the bottom of their stems are drying out and absorbing less water. If you see them starting to wilt, cut off these dead ends at about one inch from the bottom of the stems. Be sure to cut them at an angle, to increase the amount of surface area for maximum water absorption, and to keep the stems from resting directly on the bottom of the vase, where they will be unable to get the water they need.
Refresh the water.
Dump out and refill your vase with lukewarm water when you remove the flowers to cut the stems. This will help eliminate any bacteria that may have been lurking (flower food can often attract bacteria growth) and killing your flowers. Warm water also helps to open the stems, travels up them faster, and can loosen any tissue blockages along the way.
*Just be sure to double check that the type of flowers you have can tolerate warm water. Most can without a problem, but better safe than sorry.
Add plant food.
Give your flowers a boost of nutrients with an extra serving of plant food. You can get packaged plant food at your local flower shop or just use sugar from your pantry. When flowers are cut from the plant, they lose a lot of the naturally-produced sugars that help them thrive. Adding the packaged food or a little extra sugar will extend the life of your flowers and promote growth.
Did you intervene too late to save your dying blooms? Order yourself a brand-new bouquet from Cole’s Flowers in Middlebury! We have gorgeous bouquets and arrangements available for delivery for every season and occasion you can think of.
Give us a call at 802-388-4003 to order some new life for your home!
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