Keep your peonies fresh
Peonies are incredibly popular cut flowers and many people love sending them for all occasions. If you want to keep your cut peonies fresh, it’s important to make sure that you take proper care of them. Here are some cut peony care tips that will keep them beautiful for longer.
Choose buds
Whether you are choosing fresh flowers from your florist or picking peonies from your own garden, you should always opt for buds rather than fully-opened flowers. Once the flower has opened up completely, it will not last much longer. Buds will open over a few days and you will get to enjoy your bouquet for that much longer.
Flower food
To keep peonies fresh, you need to provide your flowers with the nutrients they crave. Some might say that sugar in vase water helps flowers last and this is true to a certain extent. It’s not only about feeding the flowers, however, it’s also important to slow the growth of bacteria. Flower food can be purchased from your local florist. Simply follow the instructions on the package and make sure that you add flower food every time you change the vase water.
Temperature
If you are planning on storing your flowers for later use, you can keep peonies fresh by storing them in the fridge. Cooler temperatures help these blooms stay crisp and fresh but you should not allow them to get too cold. If you plan on displaying them right away, make sure that you place the vase in a cool spot that does not receive any direct sunlight.
Pests
When picking flowers from your own garden, you should always be careful of pests. Ants love the smell of peonies. While they don’t do the flower any harm, you might not want these insects in your home. Once you have picked the flowers, place them in a bucket of water and place the bucket in a shaded spot outside for about half an hour. This will give the insects time to relocate before you bring the blooms inside.
Trimmed stems
When you prepare your flowers to be displayed in a vase, you should make sure that you cut the stems at an angle. This allows the stem to absorb enough water and nutrients. You may need to trim again after a few days. This is because bacteria grows on the cut stem in the vase and it can clog the stems. Trimming the stems creates a fresh surface for absorption and helps keep your peonies fresh for longer.
If you have peony buds and you want them to open quickly so that you can impress your dinner guests, you can do so in just two steps. Firstly, place the stems in warm water and then place the vase in a warm location. Once you notice the buds start to open, you can put them on display wherever needed.