Tips: How to preserve cut flowers

European roses, anthuriums, malaysian mums, carnations, liatris and lilies are grown purposely for vase decorations, bouquets, floral arrangements and corsages. I have had my time growing flowers too in my garden and I remember my auntie has a wonderful collection of. Whenever I have the time to stay around her garden and admire those lovely flowers, I always take pleasure in asking some for me to grow myself too; she's very generous that I have grown variety of them. I reckon those days when I was so thrilled seeing flowers growing abundantly, I just cant wait to arrange them and adorn my living room with these wonders of nature. Let me share with you some tips on how to prolong your excitement in adoring them. I have tried them myself and find them very helpful.

Cut flowers love cool environment, so it is very important to maintain right temperature. The flowers must be able to hold on to the coolness your storage provides. If you bought them for future arrangement, wrap your flowers in aluminum foil and store in refrigerator to preserve its coolness.

If you are going to put it in a vase, use floral foam as your base. It retains more water and helps the cut flowers maintain its freshness.

Aspirin tablets also help lengthen the life of cut flowers. The preservative that really works is a couple of drops of vinegar mixed in plain water. Vinegar slows down the growth of bacteria.

Rain water is the best for cut flowers because it is pure, free from salt and other chemicals that will cause the flowers to dry up. You may collect rain water and store in clean containers.

Change the water every other day and it will help cut flowers to last up to two weeks. Note very well that each time you change water, cut off an inch from the bottom of each stem to maintain continuous absorption of water and to prevent rotting of stems (as they are dipped in water and will easily rot). A piece of charcoal in the water will prevent bad odor too.

Sugar is an easy to digest plant food and it will help reviving drooping bunches. Add 2-3 tsp. of sugar in 100 ml. of water and it will give your plant another lease of good looks.

Make sure to trim wilted leaves to prevent leaf bugs hopping from wilted leaves to healthy ones. It also prevent fallen leaves from rotting in the water.