David Epstein of GrowingWisdom.com fame interviews softly-spoken Susan Lane of Home Depot to get tips on how to get the most out of your cut flowers from the garden or florist.
Granted, it’s a vast subject full of the pitfalls of generalizing, but the 2.46 min video pretty much covers the bases. In other words, you can adapt these tips to just about any type of cut flowers. The principles are the same!
David and Susan limit themselves to three types of flowers (tulips, roses and Peruvian lilies).
Remember tulips originated in a cold climate so for them it’s cold water plus you should turn them daily so all sides of the bloom get exposed to sunlight. Top up the water when necessary.
With roses you cut off the leaves from the part of the stem that will be below the water level in the vase and select warm water to speed blooming and cold water to allow the roses to last longer. Cut the stem just once diagonally to allow the free flow of water up the stem. Don’t cut them more than once or too much water will travel up the stem and the blooms will droop.
I love the recipes for pepping up flower water to make your blooms last! Buy a commercially available dissolving tablet, or make your own mix of a quart of water, 1/8 tsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp sugar. Or just dissolve as aspirin in the water!
Susan says that exotic flowers such as Alstomeria (Peruvian lilies) should have their leaves removed, be trimmed often and the water should be changed just once a week if you want them to last 10 - 14 days at least. Keep them out of direct heat and sunlight.
Enjoy your cut flowers!
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