How to get your cut flowers to last longer:

There is nothing like having a beautiful bunch of fresh blooms in your home, which instantly lifts your mood. Here are a few guidelines to help these blooms last even longer. 

• When you purchase/pick your blooms strip any foliage off the steps that could be submerged into the water as it prevents any bacteria growth. Trim the stems diagonally as it encourages the flowers to drink up water.
• Refresh the vase with clean water every 2 to 3 days and again remove any dead heads or leaves that may be contaminating the water. Trim the stems again slightly to encourage hydration.
• Never overfill the vase with water as it only needs to be enough to help hydrate the plant - the more water you fill the vase with, the soggier the stems of the flowers will be. 
• Keep the flowers in a cool spot that doesn't receive direct sunlight. 
• An important tip: Never place your flowers next to fruit bowls especially bananas as fruit releases ethane gas as they ripen which shortens the life span of the flowers.

This is a great way to preserve your flowers and feed them at the same time:

Mix the following together:

• 1 litre of water 
• 1 Teaspoon Vinegar 
• 1 Teaspoon sugar 
• 3-5 drops of household bleach 

Mix the ingredients together and store it, pour a necessary amount into the vase each time.

Sadly, a cut flower does have a lifespan and once the bloom starts to fade in colour and begin to droop one thinks its time to get rid of it but alas there is one last step you can do to push the flowers for their last performance. 

This is called scalding (it sounds worse than what it truly is haha)

• Remove the blooms from the vase of water. Wash the vase and refill with water and place to the side.
• Place boiling water in a heatproof dish.
• Trim the base of your stems and then place 2cm of the stem into the boiling hot water for roughly 30 seconds. 
• Immediately place the stems back into the clean, refreshed vase of water. 

This allows the stems to absorb more water and perk up, happy as Larry .