Transport Your Bouquet

When you buy a bouquet or pick up your weekly flower share, try to get it home as soon as possible. When you leave a flower bouquet in a hot car, it will harm its longevity.

If you are running a few errands before heading home, make sure you put your bouquet in a cup of water, place it out of the direct sun, and crack a window for airflow.

Prepare the Flowers

Now with your bouquet home, unwrap it from its paper wrapper and fluff the flowers up a bit. Trim the bottom of your flower stems with a pair of clean, sharp kitchen shears or scissors. This new cut will encourage your flowers to drink the fresh water in the vase. If any flower stems have lower leaves that will touch the water - remove them. Leaves will contaminate the water, shortening the life of your flower bouquet. Fresh, clean water is crucial to keeping your flowers looking good.

Find a clean vase from around your house. If you don't have a vase, how about a mason jar or a Bell Urban Farm glass? Any container that can hold water will work. Rinse the vase out again. You do not want any dirt on the bottom of it. It is essential to have as clean of water as possible. If there is dirt in your vase, it can cause bacteria and mold to grow, which will clog up your flower stems. Clogged-up stems can not drink water effectively.

Fill your vase with clean water and put your flowers in it. A lot of people think you need flower food to keep flowers fresh. Flower food is usually just two things: a biocide like bleach (something to stop bacteria and mold from growing) and a sugar to "feed" the flowers. While packets of flower food do work, we have seen that just cleaning the water and trimming the stems work as well and are more environmentally friendly.

Display the Flower Bouquet

Place the bouquet away from direct sunlight and away from air drafts caused by a fan or air conditioner. After a couple of days, check on your flowers. How much water is in the vase? Flowers can drink up water very fast. Pour out the old water and add fresh water. Check on your vase - is it still clean? If not, give it a quick rinse. If you want to help the flowers last even longer, trim the stems about a half-inch and put them back in the vase. The clean cut will encourage them to drink more water, helping them stay fresh longer.

Some flowers have a longer "vase life" than others, meaning how long the flower lasts in the vase. For example, dahlias and tulips are beautiful but don't last very long after being harvested. Flowers like Canterbury bells, carnations, and lisianthus, can last weeks in the vase if taken care of properly.

Following our tips for transporting, preparing, and displaying your bouquet, will help your flowers stay fresh, and the longer the flower bouquet lasts, the happier you will be!