Reviving Wilted Flowers

There are few things more disappointing than bringing home a fresh bouquet of flowers from your florist only to see them wilt on the way home.  After all your careful shopping and precise selection of the perfect bunch, you haven’t even gotten to enjoy them and they are already perishing.  Chin up!  All hope is not lost!  Wilted flowers can be revived if you just take the time to condition them correctly.

First things first, get your flowers into a bucket of water immediately.  You may think that a thirsty plant or flower will enjoy some crisp, ice cold water but this is not always the case.  Cut flowers absorb warm or room temperature water at a much faster rate than what they can absorb cold water.  The only exception to this is flowers grown from bulbs.  They prefer cold water.

As soon as you have your sink or bucket of water ready, add some floral preserve to it and place your flowers in the water.  Many people recommend completely submerging the flowers to help freshen them up.  While the flowers are in water, trim the stems.  It is very important to do this as it will provide the stem with a new, clean surface from which to absorb fresh water and nutrients provided by the floral preserve.

Whenever you trim the stems of flowers, there is one important rule to remember.  That is to trim the stems at an angle of approximately 45 degrees.  If you compare a straight cut stem to one cut at an angle, you will notice that the straight cut stem base is quite a bit smaller than the other one.  Hence, by cutting at an angle, you are creating a larger surface area from which the stem can absorb all it needs.  As an added bonus, when placed in a vase, stems cut at an angle will not lay flat on the bottom.  That way, the bottom of the stem is not obstructed in any way from doing its job of getting food and water from the vase to the flower.

After your flowers are all trimmed and ready, you can add some warm water and flower food to the vase.  Put your flowers in the vase and then place the bouquet in a cool place away from any sunlight and drafts.  You should let the bouquet stand for about and hour or two before moving it to its intended location for display.

There are a number of tricks that some people recommend but just remember that if any of them involve crushing or damaging the stem or flowers in any way, this is never a good idea.  Remember that, no matter how hard you try and no matter what you do, sometimes wilted flowers can not be brought back.  In the case of an older bouquet, you really can’t expect your flowers to perk up once they have maintained their blooms for a number of days or weeks (depending on the type of flower).