Keep your blooms blooming for longer!
Tips in preserving the life of your beautiful roses
Because I love arranging flowers and I love having them around the house, I usually find myself buying cut roses every week or every other week, depending on my schedule and of course, depending on how long they stay fresh when placed indoors. Lately though, my mom has stopped buying roses from her favorite market shops. She’s been growing some orchids for several years already – ground orchids, wild orchids, exotic orchids – that she no longer feels the need to purchase cut roses on a regular basis for decorating around the home. However she’s given me some excellent tips in keeping cut roses fresher for longer, which she has tried and tested during her long rose-buying years. Here are some of them:
1. Make sure that you change the water in your vase regularly. By regularly, I mean every 2 days or so. It’s very important that you change the entire water content in your vase, and not simply to add fresh water into your container. Fresh water keeps your flowers hydrated and keeps them alive for longer.
2. The manner and frequency of cutting the stems are also crucial factors in determining the longevity of your rose blooms. Always use sharp cutters when cutting your roses, and cut them at an angle so as to encourage better uptake of water once they’re placed in the vase or any other container. Re-cut the stems everyday or every other day, always at an angle, to promote better water absorption.
3. The placement of your blooms indoors also dictates their ability to last longer. If sunlight streams through a corner table regularly, especially at noon time, avoid placing your roses in that area. Cooler weather is always ideal for roses and other blooms; but since you can’t dictate the weather, you need to place them in the coolest areas inside your home.
4. Keeping water conditions acidic has been known to preserve the life of your blooms, but you don’t always need to resort to chemical formulas. My mom used to add sugar into her vase when placing cut roses, but I have found aspirin and the lime and vinegar formula to be more effective. Crush an aspirin and add it to a liter of water or add lime and vinegar (a couple of tablespoons) to a quart of water. The acidic water conditions help to stave off bacteria and yeast growth that promotes decay.
These tips don’t apply to roses alone; in fact you can use them in keeping other varieties of cut flowers fresher for a long time. It matters very little whether you’re fond of roses, orchids, lilies, or gerberas. By keeping your favorite blooms fresher for the longest time possible -whether you’re using them at home or for some other commercial purpose – you get to enjoy the best value from your weekly flower purchases without the extra expense.