Increase Your Bouquet's Lifespan
So you receive flowers today and in a few days’ time, much as you would love to keep them, they start to wilt and give off a not so pleasant odor and painful as it is, you have to let them go.
Orchids and chrysanthemums have a reputation for staying fresh for really long periods of time so if you are the one buying flowers, you may choose them. You may also choose to get them in a dish garden, which one can get for just $20 and the flowers will stay fresh for longer and even continue to bloom. Your basis for judging a flower’s beauty should be the bud and not the bloom because flowers attain their greatest beauty just before they start to wilt so patience here will serve you well. However, you need to be careful not to pick a bud that was cut too early which will never open up fully; this you can tell if the flower has little or no color. Mature buds show color at the top and are green around their base.
It is wise to keep your fresh flowers far from fruits as they emit gases poisonous to flowers. Furthermore, you should keep them away from electronics or any other sources of heat like direct sunlight or on top of appliances.
If you cut flowers for yourself make a diagonal cut with the flowers submerged to increase surface area for absorption of water and to ensure they do not sit flat on the base of the vase, and immediately put them in lukewarm water removing any leaves that are submerged. With roses, leave the thorns on as removal shortens their lifespan. The best time to do this is when it is cool and the flowers have food in store, early morning or late afternoon.
If they were bought from a florist, you need to protect them from bacteria and fungi. You could do this by adding a drop or two of Listerine mouth wash which contains sugars to serve as food and increases acidity in the water making it inhospitable to those organisms. In case you use preservatives, do so in the exact proportions directed. Another option is to put just enough water for the flowers to take up, that way, no water sits in the jar for days or end providing suitable ground for bacteria.
