SUSTAIN THE BEAUTY OF VALENTINE’S DAY

If you are the fortunate recipient of a beautiful arrangement of flowers during the Valentine’s Day event, you may be interested in a few simple tricks to help keep your lovely gift for as long as possible. Water is the key ingredient to making flowers last their longest. Always keep the container filled to the very top and it is important to exchange the water with fresh water at least every other day. This is as simple as going to the sink and tipping the vase over while holding on to the flowers and draining it completely. Refill with fresh water and never add fertilizer.

Another trick is to give your flowers a fresh cut often-every other day or two. This is not as hard to do as it sounds. For most arrangements, have a pair of pruning scissors or utility scissors near by and then lift out the entire arrangement all at one time. Have a trash can handy then cut straight across the stems (not too much at one time) then put the arrangement back into the vase. This process only works if the flowers are loosely arranged in the vase and not in “Oasis” foam or in Styrofoam.

If your flowers are delivered to you at work and you are not taking them home for the weekend, find a very cool/cold place to store them for the weekend. They will be in much better shape when you come back to work on Monday. A refrigerator is a great place (if there is room) just as long as they never freeze. Remember, these are not “growing” flowers, they are “cut” flowers so sunshine is now their enemy and will shorten their life span.