Instruction Care - Flower Bouquets

Flower Bouquets

Floral Foam Bouquets

You can keep the bouquet and floral foam as they are.

Place your flowers in a cool room or shaded area. Avoid direct air-conditioning, direct sunlight, extreme heat, dust, and ripening fruit. All of these conditions may make your flowers wilt faster.

Sprinkle some water onto the floral foam at the base of the bouquet.

The flower bouquet is designed with waterproofing inside, and there's floral foam as the base. You can pour water into the gaps between the flowers (around 100ml or so) to keep the floral foam moist. Be sure to avoid direct sunlight to prolong the freshness of the flowers.

When a flower begins to wilt, remove the petals or the whole flower from the bouquet. Flowers bloom and wilt at different times. Removing wilted flowers will help to avoid the spread of bacteria to the other flowers.

If you wish to transfer your flower into a vase:

Without removing the flower wrapper, gently pick up the flower and foliage from the existing floral foam base.

Prepare a clean vase. The cleaner your vase, the lesser the chance of bacterial growth, allowing your flowers to bloom for much longer. Of course, you can also use a jar, a mug, a teapot, or anything that you fancy.

Fill the vase with cold tap water. Too much water can speed up the decay of the stems, and too little will hamper hydration. We suggest filling your vase up to two-thirds full.

Pro tips to make your own preservatives to keep cut flowers fresh longer:

Dissolve 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar per quart (liter) of warm water.  The sugar nourishes the plants, while the vinegar inhibits bacterial growth. You’ll be surprised how long the arrangement stays fresh.

Cut approximately 2cm off each stem at a slant (and repeat every few days). Flower stems will brown and decay which will hamper hydration. By snipping off the bottom few centimeters, your flowers are hydrated better and will last longer.

Remove all the lower leaves of your flower stems. Make sure there are no leaves in the water because they decay much faster underwater. Decaying leaves will create bacteria that will spoil your flowers.

After you've trimmed the stems and pruned the leaves, arrange them in your filled vase however you like. Here's a pro tip: place taller stems at the back and the short ones at the front.

Place your flowers in a cool room or shaded area. Avoid direct air-conditioning, direct sunlight, extreme heat, dust, and ripening fruit. All of these conditions may make your flowers wilt faster.

Change the water in your vase when the water becomes discolored or murky. Dirty water will block the stems and hamper hydration. The water in your vase should always be crystal clear. Again, use cold tap water.

When a flower begins to wilt, remove the petals or the whole flower from the bouquet. Flowers bloom and wilt at different times. Removing wilted flowers will help to avoid the spread of bacteria to the other flowers.

Spray or spritz your flowers with clean tap water once a day to give them additional hydration. Flowers can absorb water from places other than the base of their stems. To do this right, use a bottle with a fine mist setting and spray from 6 inches to 1 foot away from the flowers to ensure even coverage.

 

Non-Foam Flower Bouquets

Upon receiving of a bouquet, your first intention will be to place it in a vase. This vase needs to be - especially the interior - not just clean, but one hundred percent pure. Only then you can make sure that those bacteria, that reduce the lifespan of the flowers, have no chance.

A dishwasher can be of great use, but precious types of vases should always undergo a diligent wash by hand. A few drops of chlorid can come in handy during the cleaning.

One sidenote: Those who are keen on placing the flowers in a metal pot, should make use of an inlet made of glass or plastic.

 

Best care

Special nourishing fertilizers have proven themselves useful and should not be neglected, especially in hot environments that can often be stressful for the flowers. Fertilizers further more prevent bacteria from growing in the pot or vase.

 

A bouquet in great shape 

In order to preserve the bouquets floristic design, one should in no case open the binding tape at the stalks. This tape ensures the bouquets condition and aesthetic appearance.

Remove leaves reaching into the water and individual, overly matured blossoms. Those would otherwise increase the process of wilting.

 

Make a great cut

Before placing the bouquet into a vase, make sure to cut of the tips of the stalks diagonally by using a sharp knife. This allows the flowers to better absorb the water and its nutrients.

 

Beauty in the shadow

For lasting joy it is crucial that the bouquet is placed in a suitable location.

Direct sunlight is not ideal as flowers will evaporate more water than they can absorb via their stalks. Consequence is accelerated wilting. Draught is just as disadvantageous. Ideal is a shaded, slightly chilly spot.

 

A daily refreshment

Especially in hot environments one needs to pay attention to the water level of the vase. It can fall rapidly - cut flowers are really thirsty.

If water is replaced on a daily basis, do make sure that the vase remains perfectly clean to prevent bacteria from spreading.

 

Fruits aren't always healthy

Ripe fruits are a joy for a humans, however not so much for cut flowers. They diffuse ethylene, which accelerates ripening of the flowers - thus the durability of they flowers shortens a lot unfortunately.

By the way: If there is intensive smoking taking place near the flowers, this will also result in ethylene affecting the ripening of the flowers.