Keep Your Flower Share Blooming

This year is the first year I've signed up for a flower share - and let me tell you - it makes me so happy to have fresh flowers in the apartment. It really brightens things up around here.

Below are some tips from this year's Garlic Press Extra on making your cut flowers stick around longer than they normally would.

Homemade Flower Preservative
In case Windflower Farm omits the little bag of preservative powder. Recipe from Brooklyn Botanic Garden's "Plants and Gardens News," Spring 2003.

To each quart of luke-warm water add:

• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp bleach
• 2 tsp lemon or lime juice (or vinegar)

How to prepare your flowers for life in a vase:
Once out of water, cut flower stems seal up and inhibit water absorption. So when you get home, using a sharp knife, clippers or garden shears (but not household scissors), cut the stem ends on a 45 degree angle about one inch from the bottom. The angled cut provides greater area for water take-up, and the stem then stands on a point, allowing the water to be in contact with the cut surface.


My tip:
After a few days, change the water, add more preservative and re-cut the stems (using the procedure above). I find this keeps the flowers alive longer and keeps the water from getting too nasty.