Six habits that make cut flowers last longer
A clean vase, a sharp knife and five minutes every other day. The small things that add three or four days to any bouquet.
Every bouquet we send carries a seven-day freshness promise. Most of them easily go further, and the difference is almost always what happens in the first hour after the door closes.
1. Start with a clean vase
Bacteria in an old vase block the stems within a day. Wash it with hot soapy water, rinse well, and fill it with cold, fresh water.
2. Cut, don't snap
Use sharp scissors or a knife and cut two centimetres off each stem at an angle. Blunt scissors crush the stem and stop it drinking.
3. Strip the leaves below the waterline
Leaves that sit in water rot fast and cloud it. Anything below the rim of the vase should come off.
4, 5 and 6: water, place, edit
Change the water every two days and recut the stems when you do. Keep the vase out of direct sun, away from radiators and away from the fruit bowl. And as single stems fade, take them out: a smaller, fresh bouquet looks better than a big tired one.
