Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) October 18, 2013
At the Flower Design Schools of America, their students are taught the importance of flower care as it relates to flower design.
It's happened to us all, we get a beautiful flower arrangement and then it dies a few days later... why does this happen? The main culprit in this problem is bacteria! Bacteria grows in the water and wet floral foam that is holding your flowers. The bacteria that starts to grow is caused by the organic materials (the flower stems, leaves, etc.) that have started to decompose in the design. Unfortunately, bacteria isn't the only thing that is killing your flowers. Moisture Loss and Decomposing Stems also take days off of the arrangement's shelf life. Okay, so now that we know what is killing our flowers, let's find out what to do about it.
The Flower Design Schools of America have some tips to help you extend the life of your flowers. It is quite simple really. First, lets deal with the bacteria. You can significantly reduce the bacteria in the design's water or foam by using a few drops of household bleach. Bleach discourages the bacteria's growth, keeping it under control in between water changes. Changing your water is extremely important. The bleach only discourages the bacteria growth; it doesn't totally eliminate it. So that is why you should change your arrangement's water every few days. You will know when it is time to change the flower's water, when the water changes from a being nice and clear to cloudy. Now with floral foam, you can't 'change the water' because there is no water to change. So when you need to water your floral foam (floral foam needs to be watered every few days to keep it moist) add a couple of drops of bleach from a small dropper into a pitcher of water and use that to freshen up the flower designs foam.
Now the second tip for extending the life of your flower arrangement is to reduce the moisture that is being lost out of the flower's leaves, stems and petals. The Flower Design Schools of America use a special spray called Crowning Glory made by Floralife. Crowning Glory is a wax-based spray that seals off the pores on the petals, leaves and stems of the organic materials in your arrangement. This helps reduce the moisture being lost so that the flowers and greens look fresh and wilt free.
The third tip on keeping your flower designs fresh is also very simple. Trim the stems. Each time you change the water in your flower arrangement, snip a bit off of the stems. Think of a flower stem like a straw. The flower 'sucks' up the moisture through its stem like a straw. As the stem sits in the vase of water, the cut edge begins to break down and decompose. This in turn limits the amount of water traveling up the length of the stem. Each time you snip some of the stem length you are exposing fresh capillaries, re-opening the straw, so to speak. See it's not that hard, is it?
Following these simple tips will add several days of enjoyment to your flower arrangements life and beauty.
Want to learn more? Call the Flower Design Schools of America at 1-877-32-BLOOM to get information on a school located near you.