Keep Valentine’s Day flowers beautiful for longer

Like so many other annual events and occasions, Valentine’s Day lasts for a single day. Of course, just because Valentine’s Day is one day in the year, it doesn’t mean that your gifts should last just for one day. You want your partner, spouse, or special somebody to enjoy being spoiled for several days or even weeks after Valentine’s comes to an end. Fresh flowers and roses, in particular, are a popular choice for such a romantic occasion. If you want your Valentine’s Day flowers to look beautiful for as long as possible, here’s how:

You need:

• Fresh Valentine’s Day flowers
• Clean water
• Flower food
• Sharp scissors
• Bucket
• Vase (if not included with your flower delivery)

Steps:

• When your fresh flowers arrive, you need to place them in fresh, clean water right at once. Make sure that you use room temperature water and use a clean bucket to let your flowers soak it up before you condition them and arrange them in the vase. Even if your bouquet arrives in a vase, you should still remove them from the vase and place them in some fresh water. You will need to condition the stems and prepare the vase water which means that you need to get the flowers out of the way before you can do so.
• Remember to remove any wrapping material and, if the stems are bound together, you will need to cut the string or whatever material used to bind them.
• Now take each stem, one at a time, and trim the, at a 45 degree angle. This creates a bigger surface area which encourages water absorption which extends the life of your flowers.
• A good tip to remember is to do all your stem trimming under water to prevent air from entering the stem and slowing down absorption. You should also make sure that the scissors or knife that you use is extra sharp so that you do not crush the stems when trimming them.
• While trimming each stem, clean the leaves off the stems as well. You don’t want excess plant material in your vase water since this increases bacteial growth.
• Now you need to prepare your vase by cleaning it thoroughly and adding fresh clean water. Dissolve your flower food in the water as per the package instructions. You don’t need to fill the vase to the brim. Instead, add just enough water to cover the bottoms of the stems. This also helps reduce bacterial growth in the water.
• Check on your flowers regularly, change the water, and remove dying or dead flowers as soon as you notice them.
• When displaying your flowers, make sure that they are not next to a window, not near any source of heat and out of windy areas.