Keep Valentines Day Flowers Alive Longer than the Relationship

How to keep Valentines Day cut flowers alive. Guys-guide to buying Valentines Day flowers available on website.

(PRWEB) January 31, 2005 -- Heres how you can keep Valentines Day cut flowers alive even if the relationship doesnt last longer than the weekend.

The most important thing to do after youve unwrapped those gorgeous messages of romance is recut the stems while keeping the stem-ends under water. Stems that are dried out, even for an instant, will kill the cells at the stem end, preventing the flower from drawing water and shortening bloom life. Cutting on a diagonal increases the surface area from which the flowers can absorb water. Once you have made the cut under water, immediately move the stem to the water-filled vase.

Remove all foliage that will be underwater. Underwater foliage will rot quite quickly, allowing bacteria to grow in the water and these in turn reduce the bouquets bloom time.

Plan on changing the water daily (at the very least every second to third day) to reduce the water bacterial counts. Each time you change the water, do recut a short bit off the end of each stem (underwater) -- this will further extend the life of the cut flower.

Floral preservative is good stuff for cut flowers. It contains anti-bacterial water conditioners along with flower food and acidifying agents. If your florist gave you some, use it. If you dont have it, a dash of clear sugar-based drink like Sprite will work. Aspirins, contrary to most popular lore, dont do anything for cut flowers although they may work very well on post-Valentine Day party heads.

In placing the vase to admire, avoid full hot sunshine, drafty, too-warm places, next to heat ducts or the top of appliances such as televisions. Any place that has heat or sucks moisture out of the bloom is to be avoided

Visit http://www.beginner-gardening.com/cutflowers.html for other tips on buying and keeping those Valentines Day flowers as well as the Guys Buying Guide for Cut Flowers.

Editor Note: Extra text including Notes to Guys on Buying Flowers" and Special notes about Tulips and Daffodils" is available at http://www.beginner-gardening.com/cutflowers.html Permission is given to cut and paste from this page for print purposes.

Contact:
Doug Green
SGF Communications: providing free gardening columns and information to community newspapers
613-544-9533

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