Caring for Your Valentine’s Day Bouquet

 

If you are one of the fortunate ones that 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, 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.  This often comes with the bouquet.  If you do not have 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 if you put the whole thing into the refrigerator every night before you go to bed and then take it out in the morning. 

 

Remember, cut flower bouquets do not last forever, so take a ‘selfie’ with 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.