ReportWire

Tag: Flowers & Centerpieces

  • The Easiest Way to Keep Cut Flowers Fresh (With What You Already Have!)

    [ad_1]

    We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

    Very rarely will we ever tell you to skip the flowers. Not only do they look beautiful and help to perk up a space, they’ve also been scientifically proven to help alleviate daily stress. Yes, really! The key is in making them last as long as possible. We have a few tips for that — and the first (and most important!) one involves making homemade flower food.

    What Is Flower Food, Anyway?

    Flower food typically comes in a small packet, which you can stir into your bouquet’s water to help the flowers stay fresh, last longer, and keep the water cleaner. Believe it or not, flower food typically only consists of three common ingredients: sugar, citric acid, and bleach. This combo keeps the flowers fed, decreases the risk of bacteria growing in the water, and makes plain tap water more habitable for plants.

    How to Make Homemade Flower Food

    Flowers need food, water, and a healthy environment, just like us. You’ll often get a little packet of flower food inside your bouquet, or if you’ve ordered your flowers to be delivered — but did you know you can easily make your own? Here’s our basic recipe:

    All you need to do is combine the ingredients above to make the best DIY flower food before placing your flowers in the vase with the solution. The sugar is the actual food for the flowers, while the bleach helps to slow fungi and bacteria growth and the citric acid from the lemon acidifies the water to lower the pH level.

    Common Homemade Flower Food Variations

    If you want to take it up a notch, you can adjust the sugar based on the type of flowers in your vase. For example, gerbera daisies can handle more sugar, while daffodils don’t like any sugar at all. Here’s a helpful chart with recommended sugar percentages from the University of Massachusetts for different varieties of cut flowers.

    Researchers at Purdue University found a few other recipes for homemade flower food to work exceptionally well: lemon-lime soda with bleach and sugar; and white vinegar, sugar, and bleach.

    Another common variation is to use citric acid instead of lemon juice in your homemade flower food if you have it on hand. It’s not only great for cooking and cleaning, but in its purest form is an easy way to add a touch of citrus if you don’t have any lemons lying around.

    How Often Should You Replace Homemade Flower Food?

    As soon as the water turns cloudy, it’s a good sign to change your cut flowers’ water and add more food. This is typically every 2 to 3 days, but sometimes more often depending on the type of flower and the temperature of the environment. The gunk in the water is microorganisms, and the flower food kills bacteria.

    5 More Brilliant Tips for Making Cut Flowers Last Longer

    You want to open the stems up to the water, so cut off the dried bottoms at an angle to let them soak up as much water as possible. You should do this when you bring new flowers home, but they can also get gummy as they close up while they sit in a vase — so trim the ends every 3 or 4 days. Just an inch or so is good!

    2. Remove the lower leaves.

    Leaves on the stems and below the water level will quickly deteriorate and promote mold. Remove all leaves from the stems below the waterline. Keep this up as you add water and trim the stems.

    Get your flowers into water as soon as possible. But know this: If the water is too hot or too cold, it will shock the flowers — and that’s not good! Treat them like Goldilocks and give them water that’s juuuust right.

    4. Place them in a temperate spot.

    More Goldilocks-ing: Rooms that are too warm or areas with direct sunlight will cause your flowers to wilt more quickly. Try to keep them in a cool, shady place.

    5. Change the water often!

    It’s ideal to change the water every one or two days — before it gets cloudy! When you do, scrub the vase’s interior, re-trim the stems and add your homemade flower food to the water at the same time. Pull out the duds that haven’t seemed to hold up as well as the others.

    [ad_2]

    Faith Durand

    Source link

  • The Golden Rule Florists Swear By to Pick the Best Grocery Store Flowers Every Time

    The Golden Rule Florists Swear By to Pick the Best Grocery Store Flowers Every Time

    [ad_1]

    We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

    There’s nothing like coming home to fresh flowers. Seeing a colorful burst of blooms on my windowsill or kitchen counter is one of my simple pleasures in life, but I’d be lying if I said buying bouquets every week wasn’t a costly hobby. Even though I buy my buds for cheap from local grocery stores, it still tends to make a dent in my weekly spending budget.

    The Golden Rule for Picking Out the Perfect Grocery Store Flowers Is . . .

    Believe it or not, the key to picking out the longest-lasting flowers at a grocery store is choosing the cheap ones. Yes, you read that right! “Specific varieties of flowers that tend to have a longer vase life are roses, alstroemeria, carnations, and chrysanthemums,” Fleck says. “These are usually lower-price-point flowers and give you a good bang for your buck.” That’s also because the pricier flowers are usually more delicate, which means they’re bound to have a shorter vase life since they’re not as durable. “Different varieties of flowers require different amounts of hydration and can be more fickle when it comes to varying temperatures, so sticking with a more hardy variety will ensure a longer vase life,” she adds.

    Although the dainty blooms like tulips, anemones, daffodils, freesias, and sweet peas are always tempting, their vase life is typically anywhere from three to seven days, whereas carnations, chrysanthemums, orchids, roses, and sunflowers tend to have impressive vase lives, lasting around two to three weeks with proper care.

    The Best Way to Care for Grocery Store Flowers

    One of the key ways to prolong the life of flowers after bringing them home is to process them. “Processing flowers is just a fancy term for cleaning them and conditioning them,” Fleck explains. “You will need to unpackage them gently, take off all the excess leaves, and clean up the outer petals of the bloom if they need it.” 

    Once you’ve done that, cut them at a 45-degree angle about a quarter of an inch up the stem. From there, place them in a batch of fresh, cool water and add a packet of flower food (which you can make yourself!). For best results, Fleck notes to keep the stems clean by giving them a fresh cut every other day. Also, be sure to change out the water every day or two to ensure the blooms aren’t soaking in bacteria. 

    As for a pro tip, see if the grocery store will give you an additional packet of flower food. If they do, add it to your flowers after you change the water. This will keep them fresher longer.

    How Can You Tell if Grocery Store Flowers Are Fresh?

    No matter how hard you might try to keep your flowers alive (good on you!), there’s going to be a day where they’re too far gone. But, fear not, because there are a few things you can do to ensure you get the freshest bunch every time (aside from checking the price tag!). 

    “The No. 1 thing to look at when it comes to flower freshness are the petals,” Fleck says. “If they are firm and vibrant, this is a good sign they are fresh.” To see if they are firm, gently touch them with your fingers, but be careful not to bruise them. Then, check the stems. Smell them to make sure they don’t have a funky odor and feel them to make sure they’re not slimy. If they pass these tests, they’re good to take home — and they’ll last a lot longer than you might have expected!

    Buy: FloraLife Cut Flower Food Packets, $11.99

    [ad_2]

    Lauren Harano

    Source link