Tips for Extending the Life of Your Flower Arrangement
by Pedro Sardela
**Actually Written By Natalie Huntley**
Cut flowers are a beautiful way to brighten anyone's day and while all flowers do eventually fade naturally, there are some things that you can do to help them last a bit longer.
If cared for properly, our Blossom and Bone flower arrangements can last up to a week, or even longer. There are some natural causes, like daylight and heat, that can make extending your bouquet's longevity a bit more challenging. Below, you will find some tips and tricks about how to extend the life of your locally grown flowers, as well as some helpful knowledge about the life cycle of blooms throughout the seasons.
Bacteria is our number one enemy when trying to make our flowers long-lasting. Unfortunately, bacteria from the stems and leaves of cut flowers can build up quickly in a vase over a short period of time, so changing the water daily is one of the most important actions you can take in helping your flowers last! Staying ahead of the vase water becoming inhabitable is honestly integral part of caring for your bouquet. At Blossom and Bone, we hand tie our arrangements so that you can easily keep the flowers in tact while changing the water. While you have the bouquet out of water, it’s always a good idea to trim the stems. Cutting the stems will help the flowers drink up the fresh, clean water. We supply our arrangements with a little packet of flower food. Adding a little bit of the flower food to the fresh water will help the flowers stay hydrated as well as slow bacteria from building.
The location of the flower arrangement in your home is also very important! You will want to keep the flowers in an area that is out of direct sunlight as sunlight encourages the flowers to continue to age and photosynthesize. Also, keeping the flowers away from any vents, or open windows will help the flowers stay fresh. Otherwise, their petals and leaves may become crispy.
You will find that seasonality will have a huge affect on the lifespan of an arrangement.
Flowers in the spring will typically last a lot longer. There are a few reasons for this: firstly, the air temperature is a lot lower, so the flowers will stay fresh longer. A lot of spring flowers bloom in what is called a spike formation. A good example of this is delphinium. These stems have florets along the stem, with the bottom of the stem forming flowers that open all the way up to the tip of the stem. It’s a good idea to remove any of the faded florets from these stems when you change the water to help keep them from polluting the vase water. Secondly, daylight contributes a lot to the aging of a flower. With the days being shorter in the spring, fall, and winter, the flowers have a much greater chance at lasting longer.
As arrangements age, some of the flowers will fade faster than the others. Our notorious divas, the dahlias, will fade the quickest, especially in the summer. Both the heat and long days contribute to their demise. The best thing you can do is to remove the entire stem from the arrangement once it’s kicked the can, since death spreads! Once we hit September, the days are notably shorter and the heat usually dies down some. At this point in time, flowers typically begin to last a bit longer until the growing season eventually dies out.