This story on fresh cut flowers originally appeared in my local newspaper’s Master Gardener column.
Bouquets of flowers are a treat, whether grown in your garden, purchased in a store, or delivered from your favorite flower shop. You want to enjoy the flowers as long as possible. I’ve researched the do’s and don’ts of keeping cut flowers fresh and have a few tips to share.
First, let’s learn about cut flowers in your garden. The most popular flowers for bouquets that you can grow in your garden include:
* Celosia
* Cosmos
* Daisy
* Lilies
* Peonies
* Roses
* Salvia
* Strawflower
* Zinnia
In addition to these beautiful blooms, you can include stems of fragrant herbs like rosemary and basil in your bouquets for fragrance and texture.
Grow a Cut Flower Garden
Start a cut flower garden in spring. Choose a sunny site, one that gets 6 to 8 hours of sunlight each day. Amend the soil with compost and plant seeds or seedlings after the danger of frost is passed. (In my zone 8a garden, that’s after April 15.) Keep your cut flower garden watered through the summer and thin seedlings that are too close. Fertilize every few weeks with a balanced fertilizer.
Tips for Fresh Cut Flower Bouquets
When it’s time to cut flowers in your garden, keep these tips in mind:
Do:
* Cut flowers early in the morning when the stems are full of water.
* Bring a bucket filled with a few inches of warm water.
* Use pruning snips or shears to cut the stems at a 45-degree angle. This cut increases the surface area for the plant stem to take up water.
* Remove any foliage that will fall below the water line. Add stems to bucket.
Don’t:
* Cut the stems too short. You need extra length for the second cut.
* Cut blooms in the heat of the day. Flowers are less stressed in the mornings.
* When you’ve cut the flowers, bring them inside for the second cut.
The next steps are the same whether you’ve gathered flowers from your garden or bought them from a store.
* You want to cut the stems a second time and arrange them in a vase and set in a place where you’ll be able to enjoy them.
* Set up a station to cut your bouquet. Spread out paper on a work surface and prepare a vase to display the flowers.
* Fill the vase with water and the flower food packet that’s usually included.
Flower food packets include sugar to help plants grow, acid to lower the pH and help the plant take up nutrients, and a biocide like bleach to reduce bacteria. Use the flower food packet from store-bought flowers or make your own preservative.
Homemade Cut Flower Food Recipe
Homemade Cut Flower Food Recipe
To one quart of warm water, add:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon bleach
Stir and pour into flower vase. Make the mixture fresh every time you need it. Do not store this mixture.
Do:
* Put a fresh 45-degree angle cut on the stem at the proper length for the vase.
* Change the water every day, or at the very least, every other day.
* Discard fading flowers and keep the freshest blooms. Mixed bouquets of flowers will decline at different rates.
Don’t:
* Use pennies in the water. This advice comes from the days when pennies were mostly copper, which is a natural fungicide. Modern pennies are mostly zinc and will not help your flowers.
* Use aspirin in the flower water. Save aspirin for your headache. It won’t help your flowers.
* Use soda. I guess you could use a lemon-lime soda in your flower food, but it’s more cost-efficient to use a spoonful of sugar and a squeeze of fresh citrus (or an equivalent amount of household vinegar).
* Follow these tips and expect your cut flowers to last from 10 days to 2 weeks.
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