How to make your bouquet last longer: tips from our florists

With the right care, a fresh bouquet stays beautiful noticeably longer. Below is what we do in our own shop and recommend to our customers, together with proven advice from cut-flower specialists. No complicated recipes — a few simple habits do most of the work.

When your bouquet arrives

• Keep the wrapping on. Florist paper, film, tracing paper and modern wrapping materials are not just decoration. They keep a small microclimate around the flowers — less evaporation, fewer draughts. In our experience, wrapped bouquets last longer, so there is no need to unwrap them.
• Use the flower food. We put a free sachet of special flower food into every rose bouquet. Dissolve it in exactly the amount of water stated on the sachet. A solution that is too weak works worst of all, so don't split one sachet between two vases.
• Recut the stems. With a sharp knife or secateurs, cut 1–2 cm off each stem at an angle, ideally in a bowl of water. Cutting in the air lets air into the stem's water channels, creating a blockage so the flower drinks less. This is the most common reason a rose's head droops.
• Remove leaves that would sit in the water. They rot quickly and spoil it. There is no need to strip thorns from roses: wounds on the stem only make them wilt sooner.

Water and vase

• Roses love plenty of water. Fill the vase as deep as you can: the stem should be under water for more than half of its length. That is why roses need a tall vase.
• A clean vase is half the battle. Before putting the flowers in, wash the vase with hot water and washing-up liquid and rinse it well. Bacteria in the water clog the stems — the main reason flowers stop drinking and wilt.
• Check the water level every day and top it up: a bouquet can drink more in a day than you'd expect.
• Change all the water every 1–2 days: rinse the stems, trim another 1 cm and refill with fresh water.
• Cool, settled water. Ordinary tap water is fine if you let it stand for a few hours.

Where to put the bouquet

• Coolness is a flower's best friend. The warmer the room, the faster flowers "breathe" and age. Keep the bouquet away from direct sun, radiators, heaters, appliances and air conditioning.
• Protect it from ethylene. This gas makes flowers fade faster. It comes from ripe fruit (apples, bananas), cigarette smoke, gas stoves and heaters, and from fading flowers themselves. So keep the bouquet away from the fruit bowl and remove spent blooms promptly.
• At night, move the bouquet to the coolest spot in your home — it will rest and last longer.

Flowers in a box or basket

In boxes and baskets the flowers sit in floral foam soaked in a nutrient solution, so no vase is needed. Every 1–2 days, add 30–50 ml of water to the foam. The key is not to overdo it: extra water may leak out of the box or basket. Keep the box somewhere cool and out of the sun, too.

Tips for different flowers

Roses

Roses love moisture. You can mist them 3–4 times a day — aim the spray between the buds, downwards towards the stems; if the bouquet is wrapped, that is fine. Try not to soak the open blooms themselves: drops left on petals in a warm room can cause grey mould. If roses start to droop, don't throw them away: lay them fully in a bath of cool water for a few hours or overnight, then recut the stems under water and put them back in the vase.

Tulips

Tulips like cold water — you can drop a few ice cubes into the vase. They keep growing in water, sometimes by 1–2 cm a day, and bend towards the light. Turn the vase once a day, or better still use a tall, narrow vase that supports the stems. If your tulips start to sprawl, roll the bouquet loosely in a paper cone and stand it in cold water for a few hours — the stems will straighten.

Daffodils with tulips

Freshly cut daffodils release a slimy sap that shortens the life of tulips and roses. If you want them in one vase, first stand the daffodils on their own in water for 3–6 hours. Then combine the bouquets, but don't recut the daffodils again.

Ranunculus

Like tulips, they prefer cool water, but not too deep: the lower stems don't like standing in water for long. Their stems are delicate and hollow, so change the water more often and trim them carefully with a sharp knife. Don't mist ranunculus blooms — too much moisture makes the petals rot.

Eustoma (lisianthus)

Change eustoma water often, ideally every day: it spoils quickly — its acidity changes and the lower part of the stems starts to rot. Eustoma is very sensitive to dirty water. Each time you change the water, trim the stems and remove any soft parts. Pick off faded flowers and the buds will open.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea is one of the most demanding cut flowers. Florists even call it a one-day flower: it makes a stunning impression, and only good care keeps it going longer. Hydrangeas drink through their flower heads as well as their stems, so mist the heads often. The stems are hollow — trim them with a sharp knife rather than scissors so they don't get crushed. If the flower droops, submerge the whole hydrangea, head included, in cool water: 30–60 minutes is usually enough, up to 2 hours if badly wilted. Then recut the stem and put it back in the vase.

Gerberas

Gerbera stems rot quickly in deep water, so use only a little — 5–7 cm — and trim the stems more often. Gerberas don't like sweet water: sugar feeds bacteria and the stems start to bend. They need plain clean water, changed often.

Lilies

Once a bud opens, gently remove the pollen-covered stamens: the pollen stains clothes and tablecloths badly, and the flower lasts longer without it.

Chrysanthemums, alstroemeria, carnations (dianthus)

These are the hardiest flowers: with simple care — clean water and regular trimming — they outlast many others. Remove yellowing leaves and spent flowers from alstroemeria and new buds will open.

Peonies

Tight peony buds open faster in warmth and warm water. If you'd rather make the bouquet last longer, keep it cool so the peonies open more slowly.

Orchids

Orchids in bouquets usually sit in small water tubes. Check them every day and top them up with fresh water so they never run dry.

What not to do

• Don't add aspirin, vinegar, ammonia or home-made solutions of acid and sugar to the water. Without exact dosing they are more likely to do harm. A flower food sachet, or simply clean water changed often, is more reliable.
• Don't use a small vase: roses and large bouquets need plenty of water.
• Don't keep the bouquet next to fruit, in the sun, by a radiator or where people smoke.

Any questions about caring for your bouquet? Call or message us — we'll be happy to help.

Royal Flowers florists