How to Make Cut Flowers Last Longer

Adding fresh-cut flowers is the quickest and easiest way to add life to any room. With so many choices out there, it's difficult to know which flowers will work best for your space with regard to care, safety and upkeep. Take note of these simple tips to bring a touch of the outdoors into your own home with minimal fuss.

The time between picking out flowers and getting them home is the most crucial, due mostly to how quickly stems can dry out. Ensure proper hydration by keeping a basic five-gallon home improvement store bucket in the back of your car. Add approximately four inches of water to the bottom of the bucket and your flowers are certain to handle the trek home.

One of the most important factors in regard to displaying cut flowers is using the proper vase or vessel. If extra-tall flowers are put into a vase that's too low, the top-heavy stems can start to bend, then possibly break. To widen the range of flowers for use in your home, consider keeping a collection of vases in various shapes, sizes, depths, heights and finishes.

One of the easiest ways to cause harm to fresh-cut flowers is by placing them into a vase or vessel which has not been thoroughly cleaned. After your previous flowers have been removed, a layer of debris and bacteria is left behind. This bacteria can quickly harm fresh flowers and lead to rapid decay. To fully clean a vase or vessel, rinse it with hot water, dishwashing soap and bleach.