Fresh, Hand-Delivered Flowers Direct from Local Florists
Tips on How to Keep Flowers Fresh Longer
Follow our guide to help keep cut flowers fresh for a longer period of time.
While the act of giving or receiving a fresh flower arrangement can make for a powerful and special moment, we all know that someday those flowers are bound to lose their shape, color and fullness. As much as we love gifting flower bouquets to our loved ones, friends and coworkers, we know that even with the right amount of water and care, after a while, cut flowers are bound to whittle and slowly die. But is there anything you can do to help keep cut flowers fresh for a more sustained amount of time? Well, we actually have a handful of helpful tips on how to keep flowers fresh longer! Let us walk you through a number of helpful plant-care tips you can utilize to help keep your flowers fresh and full as long as possible.
General Tips for Flower Care
There are actually a number of basic steps you can take in order to help preserve the life of a bouquet you receive. First off, it’s important that you cut the stems of your flowers at an angle upon receiving them. Just about an inch or so from the bottom, cut the end of the stem as this will help allow the water intake of your flowers. Repeat this process of cutting the stems ever few days. You will also want to prune the leaves along the stem of each flower, if there are any. This action rids your arrangement of any additional cluttering leaves and also acts to block the growth of bacteria. Everyone knows that you must water your flowers, but it’s important that you do so in the right way, with a clean vase, lukewarm water, flower food and continued upkeep every few days.
Some Additional Ways to Help Keep Flowers Fresh Longer
On top of the standard flower care tips listed above, there are a number of solutions that we’ve found can help keep your flower arrangements in tip-top shape for a sustained period of time! While we are not guaranteeing that your flowers will remain healthy longer with these tricks, you are certainly free to try one of these three solutions and record your own results.
Keep your flowers in the fridge overnight. Alright, so we know it might be weird to get up and go to the fridge for a late-night snack and find a bouquet of flowers in there instead. But cool temperatures actually do slow the aging process of flowers, and can help them keep their desired shape and fullness for a longer period of time! It’s no wonder why florists like to keep their fresh flowers in refrigerators.
Mix soda into the vase your flowers are in. Again, this might sound odd at first, but it can actually be beneficial to pour some clear soda (Sprite or 7-Up, for example) into your vase, creating a sort of water-soda mixture. Fill your vase as you typically would, except pour in just a fourth a cup of soda. Sugar can actually help flowers stay healthy longer, and we’ve seen good results from this in our experiments.
Instead of soda, mix in apple cider vinegar and sugar. Again, sugar is a main component to keeping flowers healthy and long-lasting, and is a main ingredient in standard flower food mixtures. However, sugar is known to accelerate the growth of bacteria in floral arrangements. To offset this, the acidity of apple cider vinegar can help reduce the bacteria the sugar would otherwise create. We’ve seen great success with this mixture in the past!
Keep your flowers in the fridge overnight. Alright, so we know it might be weird to get up and go to the fridge for a late-night snack and find a bouquet of flowers in there instead. But cool temperatures actually do slow the aging process of flowers, and can help them keep their desired shape and fullness for a longer period of time! It’s no wonder why florists like to keep their fresh flowers in refrigerators.
Mix soda into the vase your flowers are in. Again, this might sound odd at first, but it can actually be beneficial to pour some clear soda (Sprite or 7-Up, for example) into your vase, creating a sort of water-soda mixture. Fill your vase as you typically would, except pour in just a fourth a cup of soda. Sugar can actually help flowers stay healthy longer, and we’ve seen good results from this in our experiments.
Instead of soda, mix in apple cider vinegar and sugar. Again, sugar is a main component to keeping flowers healthy and long-lasting, and is a main ingredient in standard flower food mixtures. However, sugar is known to accelerate the growth of bacteria in floral arrangements. To offset this, the acidity of apple cider vinegar can help reduce the bacteria the sugar would otherwise create. We’ve seen great success with this mixture in the past!
We hope that if you take these suggestions to heart, that you will indeed see positive results in keeping your flowers fresh longer. For more flower guides and info, learn about the different birth month flowers and their meanings, and find out how you can preserve flowers, as well. And don’t forget to search our florist directory and order a gift for a loved one anywhere in the U.S. and Canada!
Writing Birthday Card Messages
Get insight into what you should write on birthday card messages.
Learn more ...
Tips on How to Keep Flowers Fresh Longer
Follow our guide to help keep cut flowers fresh for a longer period of time.
Learn more ...
Learn How to Preserve Flowers with these Tips
We list the best ways to preserve flowers so you can hold onto their special meaning for a long time to come.
Learn more ...
The Most Romantic Flowers to Show Your Adoration
Learn about the most romantic flowers that are sure to impress your loved one.
Learn more ...
Birth Month Flowers and the Meaning Behind Them
Come learn about the birth flowers for each month along with what each signifies.