Give wilting flowers new life

Whether your fresh flowers are strarting to wilt after a couple of days or your fresh flower delivery didn’t arrive in perfect shape, all hope is not lost. Wilted flowers can be revived provided you act quickly. That said, if your flowers are already spent more than a week or two in the vase and they have just started wilting, it’s most likely that they are reaching the end of their lifespan. In this case, it’s best to remove the wilting flowers so that they don’t cause the rest of the bunch to perish faster.

When reviving a bouquet, the first thing you will need is a bucket of fresh water. Now, as much as we love cold and refreshing drinks when we are thirsty, this is not the best idea when it comes to most flowers. In fact, even the human body absorbs water best when the water is not too cold or too hot. The same goes for flowers. So, you will need to fill the bucket with some room temperature water. Bulb flowers, however, prefer cold water so if you have a bunch of tulips, you should use cold water instead of warm water.

Once you have your bucket of water ready, you can add some flower food to the water according to the directions on the package. Place the flowers in the water and feel free to gently submerge the whole flower. While the flowers are in the water, trim the stems. By trimming under water, you prevent air from entering the stem. In addition, trimming the stems gives them a clean fresh surface from which to absorb water. Also remember to trim the stems at an angle so that they don’t rest flat on the bottom of the vase. If you cut the stems straight, it will obstruct the flow of water and the flower will perish faster.

Once your flowers are trimmed, leave them to soak for several hours. Check on them from time to time to make sure that they are perking up. After enjoying a long soak, you can then fill a vase with water and flower food. Move your stems to the vase and place the vase in a cool place and out of the sun and wind. Allow it to get used to the temperature of the room before you move it to the location where it will be displayed.

Some other reviving tricks include poking holes and sometimes even crushing the stem. These are fairly harsh methods and they actually damage the stem which means that it’s mostly counterproductive. Even if you are unable to revive your flowers, you can still put them to good use by drying or pressing them and using the petals in crafts like poutpourri.