How to Keep Flowers Fresh for Longer: 4 Tips from Florists in Houston

It isn’t asking for much to expect a beautiful bouquet from your husband when celebrating special occasions like your birthday. In fact, receiving a breathtaking bouquet that your husband carefully chose for you is an exhilarating feeling. As such, it’s only natural to want to display your flowers somewhere at home and keep them looking fresh for as long as possible.

Keeping a bouquet of flowers looking fresh doesn’t have to be very difficult. In fact, it can be relatively simple if you know what certain flowers need and if you know that you are doing. With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you keep your flowers looking fresher for longer from experienced florists in Houston.

Grab Your Hairspray

Hairspray isn’t just great for keeping your hair up throughout the day; it’s also a fantastic way to help preserve the freshness of your flowers. This is because the chemicals found in hairspray create a coating that traps moisture within a flower’s petals. As a result, the flower withers at a much slower rate. To apply this coating, stand at least a foot away from the bouquet and give it a quick and light spray along the undersides of the leaves and petals.

Try Flower Food Packets

Check around your bouquet to see if it came with a small, square packet of flower food. Many florists in Houston often provide this to help nourish flowers and keep them looking fresh over the next few days. Flower food packets often contain sugar to serve as nourishment for the flowers and an acidifier to help maintain the pH level of the water in the vase. You can easily use one packet over the course of a few days as even a little bit is enough to achieve the results you want. You might also want to pass by a trusted flower shop, like River Oaks Plant House, to see if you can purchase some in advance so you always have some on-hand.

Sterilize the Vase

Bacteria in the water can easily cause an infection that may completely wither your flowers in a few days. Before you move your flowers into a vase, you may want to take the time to wash the vase out thoroughly with soap and warm water. This is especially important if the vase you’ll be using has been in stored in a cabinet or drawer for more than a few months or is covered in dust. If you are looking for a more reliable way to sterilize your vase, you might want to try cleaning it with water and bleach.

Inhibit Growth of Bacteria

Don’t forget that the stem of your flowers undergo decomposition, even if they have already been placed in water. The combination of decomposition and moisture make your vase an ideal breeding ground for bacteria that may harm your flowers. It’s best to add a few drops of vodka into vase water. The alcohol content found in vodka can help prevent the growth of bacteria and keep your flowers healthy.

Trim the Stems

As the stems begin to decompose, the ability of your flowers to draw water through the stem diminishes. Without adequate nutrition and hydration, these flowers may begin to wilt away. This problem can easily be remedied by trimming the ends of the stem. This way, you create a healthier end that can absorb more water. When trimming the stem, cut at an angle to increase the surface area of the stem; a larger surface area means your flowers are able to draw more water. It is best to trim your stems at least every other day when you change the water.

Sources:

How to Make Flowers Last Longer: 8 Pro Tricks, ReadersDigest.com

8 tips make cut flowers last longer, MentalFloss.com