How you approach getting the longest stretch of attractiveness from cut flowers in a vase begins at the moment you open the delivery box or floral wrappings upon arriving home. Naturally, you will want to guard against too much exposure to extreme temperatures between walking out the door of your Tulsa florist’s shop and entering the controlled environment of your house. In summer, that means not leaving them in your car baking in the sun in a parking lot while you run more errands. For Valentine’s Day, you definitely don’t want the petals to be damaged by frigid winter temperatures either. It’s best to pick up your cut flowers as your last errand to protect them as much as possible.
Once the wrapping is off, there are certain steps you can take to be sure and get the most out of Valentine roses or any other cut flowers, in any season. The first step is to get rid of the healed over ends of the stems by trimming them at an angle, before putting them in a vase of water.
Pick the right vase.
The ability for air flow to reach the water and move amidst the leaves and petals is important. If your vases are too small to fit the whole bouquet into with some breathing room, its best to split it up into two vases if you want the cut flowers and roses to last as long as possible. Bacteria forms faster in warm, moist places where no air flow is possible. This speeds up the breakdown of flower stems. Next, be sure to add the recommended amount for flower food from the packet supplied by your Tulsa florist.
Placement of the vase is also important.
Protect your roses and flowers from direct sunlight and heat. Remember that when you buy cut flowers, the best ones will have been kept in a cooler. While this isn’t possible in your home, the least you can do is keep them as cool as possible and not put the blooms in a spot where they will get a direct wintery blast of air every time the exterior door is opened.
Change the water every day.
Bacteria start to form in the still water, causing faster breakdown of the stems of your roses, carnations and other fresh cut flowers. Rinse the stems when giving them fresh water and trim the ends of the stems once again to allow them to continue to take up food and water. Otherwise, a sort of callus forms and blocks the critical ‘feeding veins’, closing down their ability to prolong themselves.
Remove spent blooms and dried leaves.
After three days of not being in a cooler, it is natural for some leaves to have dried up and already opened blooms to have gone past their prime. Clipping off the desiccated leaves looks better, but also slows down stem decline. Taking off any spent flowers keeps the energy in the cut stems focused on blooming, rather than trying to set seed. Without roots to keep up their strength, this is super important to any type of cut flowers purchased from Tulsa florists.
As the bulk of your bouquet naturally reduces, you’ll also want to transfer the flowers into a smaller vase.
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