Care for Your Flower Arrangements
by
Carmen Cosentino

Isn’t it wonderful, that beautiful bouquet you received. Friends are so very thoughtful.
Yes, the flowers will fade and die. That is what flowers are meant to do: bring great joy
and color to one’s life, and then fade. Just like life itself. And, things today are so much
better than they were 20 or 30 years ago. Scientists have done a great job in breeding
flowers that do, indeed, last much longer. Growers have greatly improved their
greenhouse techniques. And transportation and communications get those blooms to us
faster than ever before. Hopefully, the place that the flowers came from has followed
current systems for care and handling.
There are things that you can do to help them to last a lot longer.
Be sure to keep the container filled with water. Not just tap water. Hopefully, your
flowers arrived with a little packet of flower food. Dissolve it in a pitcher of water, set
aside and add water from that pitcher.
After 5 or 6 days, remove the arrangement from the vase, cut an inch off the bottom of
the stems. Pour the water from the container and fill it with water from the pitcher or
fresh tepid water. Put the flowers back into the vases.
Placement is important too. Keep that arrangement off the top of the TV. Ever think
about how warm it is up there? (Although with today’s slim screens this tends to be less
and less of a problem.) Beware of drafts. As air passes over the leaf surface, it takes
water away from the leaves, water that the plant has to take from the vase. And if in a
draft or in a sunny window or near a heat radiator or air conditioner for too long, you will
shorten the life of that flower. Yes, flowers do love light, but not that bright sun bearing
down on them hour after hour. They will wilt.
I always suggest that when you are not there to enjoy them, while away at work or
sleeping, place that arrangement in the coolest room in the house and take them out
when you are there.
Actually those flowers are like people. They like a nice warm situation, out of drafts, not
too near the air conditioner, and away from the burning sun, unless you are basking in
the sun on a beach in Cancun.
Remember, too, that flowers, even those from the same plant last different lengths of
time. (Twin people do not die on the same day.) So, as one flower or another fades
away, remove it and enjoy the rest.
Which flowers last longer? Selecting the right ones will give you more days of
enjoyment per dollar spent. Pompom and daisy mums are among the longest lasting.
Most probably they will go 12 to 14 days. Again, it depends on the vendor and how he
took care of the products. Today carnations are getting a very bad rap. Some folks are
asking that they not be included in their arrangements. Years ago they were red or
white or pink and lasted less than a week and they all had the same shape. Today the
colors go across the spectrum and there are some fantastic bi-colors. Carnations are
definitely worth looking at.
Roses have, just as the carnations, come a very long way. A beautiful range of colors,
different size and shapes of blooms and lastibility.
Let us look at the other side of the coin. We love our tulips and iris and daffodils. A
sudden burst of color. But five days is about the limit. The popular lily is somewhere
between these two groups.