7 Expert Tips To Keep Your Valentine’s Day Flowers Fresh

Follow these seven tips to help keep those lovely roses, tulips, daffodils and other fresh cut flowers lasting long after the holiday is over.

Need some tips for keeping your Valentine’s Day flowers fresh so you can enjoy them longer? Follow these seven expert tips to help keep those lovely roses, tulips, daffodils, and other fresh-cut flowers lasting long after the holiday is over.

Cut Flower Care Basics

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  1. When placing a bouquet of flowers in your own vase or container, start with a clean vase. Disinfect vases with vinegar or peroxide and rinse thoroughly before using.
  2. Remove all leaves and foliage from the portion of the stems that will rest beneath the water in the container. Cut the stems at an angle with a sharp knife, being careful not to crush the stems. This will ensure sufficient water absorption.
  3. Fill the vase with very, warm water, around 100°F. Stir in a tablespoon vinegar and half a teaspoon of sugar to warm water, until dissolved, to help extend the life of the flowers. Place bouquet in vase with warm water. Flowers draw up warm water more readily than cold.
  4. Cut flowers thrive best in cooler conditions, less than 75° F. preferably. Don’t set a vase of cut flowers near a heat source, such as a radiator, fireplace, stove or directly under an air vent. Warm temperatures cause rose and tulip blooms to open quickly.
  5. Check the water level daily. Change water in the vase every few days and re-cut stems at the same time. Always add warm water, not cold, to the vase.
  6. When away from home or at night, store your roses or other cut flowers in the refrigerator to keep them fresh longer. Do not store flowers near fruit. Apples release ethylene gas that will cause your flowers to wilt quicker.
  7. Remove dying flower petals, flowers and foliage, as it appears, to keep your bouquet attractive.

A little tender loving care will prolong the life and beauty of your flower bouquet. Enjoy them while they last!

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Deborah Tukua

Deborah Tukua is a natural living, healthy lifestyle writer and author of 7 non-fiction books, including Pearls of Garden Wisdom: Time-Saving Tips and Techniques from a Country Home, Pearls of Country Wisdom: Hints from a Small Town on Keeping Garden and Home, and Naturally Sweet Blender Treats. Tukua has been a writer for the Farmers' Almanac since 2004.

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beckster204

Single no flowers. Will try. To remember when ever I get some

Dalia Mahoney-Tapella

Great tips to prolong the beauty of cut flowers! I’ve also been told by the pro’s to add 1/2 teaspoon of bleach to the vase of Gerbera Daisy’s to keep them flourishing longer. It works!

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