In the Garden
Amy Jordan, Special to the Gazette
Thursday, February 12, 2009
If you are lucky enough to get flowers for Valentine’s Day, you want to be able to enjoy them for the longest possible time. Here are some hints for getting the most from your flowers.
If you receive a bouquet of sleeved flowers that are not in a vase, unwrap them and recut the stems. Remove about an inch from the stem and any lower leaves because underwater leaves cause the growth of harmful bacteria that shorten the life of flowers. Place the stems in warm water that contains the preservative from the florist. If there is no preservative, plain, warm tap water is fine, or make your own preservative using a pinch of sugar and a drop of bleach in the water. Flowers given to you in an arrangement do not need the stems recut immediately, but should be cut after a few days.
Change the water for cut flowers often, every day if possible, using the solution mentioned above. If floral foam is used, make sure it does not dry out. Check the water level daily. Flowers take up warm water better than cold, so always use warm water. Keep flowers in a cool, dimly lit location. Do not place flowers near fruit, especially apples, because some fruit gives off ethylene gas which causes the flowers to age faster (this is why you put an apple in a bag with green bananas to ripen them).
In a mixed flower arrangement, flowers will mature at different rates. Remove flowers as the wilt. When roses start to wilt, try recutting the stem and submerging the entire flower in warm water. The flower may revive in one to two hours. Outside petals on roses can also be removed as they age to give the flower a fresher look.
Our first instinct when given flowers is to smell them, but you may be disappointed. Fragrance has been bred out of cut flowers to extend their shelf life, because scent uses up a lot of a flower’s energy, shortening its life span. You can by flowers that smell good, but they may not last as long. Typically you can expect 7 to 10 days out of cut flowers, although some will last longer.
• Amy Jordan is a horticulturist with K-State Research and Extension in Lyon County. She can be reached at 341-3220 or ajordan@ksu.edu