Caring for Valentine's Day Bouquets

   Were you one of the fortunate ones the received a bouquet of roses or other cut flowers for Valentine’s Day? Here are a few tips will help your flowers last longer, maybe even a few weeks!

   First, recut the stems at least 1 inch shorter than when you got them. Use a sharp knife and cut at a 45-degree angle. Immediately submerge the stems in warm water. Even better is to cut the stems while they are under water.


   Be sure and strip off any leaves that would otherwise be immersed in the vase water. Add a packet of flower preservative to the water. Often this comes with the bouquet. If not, you can purchase these from a florist or from the floral sections of some discount stores. If you do not have or cannot find the floral preservative packets, change the water daily in the vase.

   Avoid displaying your bouquet in a hot room or in direct sunlight. You can make your bouquet last even longer is to put the whole thing, into the refrigerator every night before you go to bed and then take it out in the morning. Putting the bouquet in a cooler part of the house will work to some degree as well.

   Remember, cut flower bouquets do not last forever, so take a picture of you and your bouquet so the memories will last long after the flowers have faded. Or you can press a few of the flowers between pages of newspaper to dry them. They might not be as colorful but the will be a reminder of the good times.