The following is a general guide to give you information about how best to look after your cut flowers.

Flowers for a Vase

• First prepare the vase for the flowers.  Make sure you clean the vase thoroughly before use.
• A ¼ teaspoon of chlorine bleach in a litre of water can be used to clean any nasties from the vase interior (be careful not to splash the bleach on to your clothes).
• Add  flower preservative crystals (where available) to the vase, and then ¾ fill the vase with fresh room temperature water. If you don’t have flower preservative  you can make some ,  Flower preservative
• Remove the water bag that is tied around the base of the bunch (take care to do this in a sink so that you don’t spill the water).
• You can cut the thin tie ribbon  at the opposite side of the stems to the ribbon bow; this will remove the ribbon bow and allow the cellophane water bag to be easily removed.
• Remove any leaves which will be underwater from stems otherwise they will rot and cause bacteria in the water
• Now  cut  1 – 2 cm off the base of all flower and foliage stems before placing the stems into the vase of fresh water.  Check to make sure the bases of all stems are in water, if they are not add more water until they are.
• Change the water in the vase and recut the stems every two or three days.
• Cutting the stem bases removes air pockets that may have formed inside the stems, and ensures that the flowers can take up water properly.

Flowers in Florist Foam

Arrangements in foam don’t need any special treatment on arrival at your place, as the foam contains the water the flowers need.

Every day or so you need to add more water to the foam base. I find the easiest way to do this is with a jug or teapot as the spout allows you to direct the water better to the centre of the arrangement;  try not to get water on the flowers themselves. The amount of water to add varies and depends on the flowers and the room temperature, in any case take care not to overfill the container that the foam sits in.

For all Cut Flowers

• Flowers in a vase and flowers in florist foam are best placed in a cool spot out of direct sunlight and away from drafts.
• Avoid putting your flowers near fruit as the gas fruit give of as they ripen speeds up the ageing of flowers.
• Check daily and add more water if needed.
• After some days the mature flowers on a stem age past there best.  Carefully cut these flowers out of the arrangement to allow the flowers and buds around it to open, and keep the arrangement looking fresh.