​Flower Care Guide: How to make your cut flowers last longer at home

Moyses Stevens Flower Care Guide - florist tips on how to look after your flowers at home to keep them fresher for longer

Whether you’ve picked up a bunch of lemon-tinted stocks as a treat or received a special birthday bundle of roses, there’s nothing quite like carefully placing your beautiful new stems into a vase and putting them pride of place in your home to enjoy. It can be pretty disheartening then, to see a couple of days later your beautiful new blooms have started wilting rather quickly. We’ve put together our top tips to help look after your cut flowers at home and keep them fresh in the vase for as long as possible.

First step - prep!

This is a key step - the floristry term is called ‘conditioning.’ In all the excitement you might be keen to pop your new flowers in a vase straight away, but they need just a couple of minutes of preparation. Remove leaves or foliage from the stem that will sit below the water line, this will prevent any potential bacteria from building up and help keep the water fresher for longer.

Using secateurs or a sharp kitchen knife, carefully trim the ends of your stems at about a 45c angle - increasing the surface area to allow the flower to drink as much water as possible! As a side note, the height of your flowers depends on the vase - as a general rule of thumb, the flowers should extend about a third of the total height of your vase. So if the vase is 20cm tall, the stem height = around 10cm (if you’re looking to create a more garden-style gathering you might want to experiment with altering lengths.)

Choosing the right vessel

We don’t mean style, shape, or colour - but rather the material of the vase. Choose a glass or ceramic container - the former more is resistant to scratches and as an inert, smooth material fends off bacteria better than more porous plastic. It is also much easier to spot when the water needs a refresh and don’t forget to make sure the vase is sparkling clean before the blooms go in!

Crystal Clear

When your flowers arrive home they will be ready for a big drink - once they’ve been conditioned (see step one) fill your chosen vase with plenty of fresh cool water (a tepid temperature works well.) Change up the water every couple of days - or sooner if the water looks anything less than clear.

Picking the perfect spot

It might be tempting to put your beautifully arranged flowers pride of place on the windowsill, but direct sunlight or sitting above a radiator will speed up their lifespan. Place somewhere with plenty of natural light but away from heat sources. You might want to also avoid popping it on the kitchen table next to the fruit bowl - bananas and apples, in particular, give off a gas called ethylene which causes flowers and leaves to age.