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It’s always a joy to pick fresh flowers from the garden or receive a bouquet. But it's sad if you soon find your flowers drooping badly or dropping petals.
It only takes a few minutes to help your cut flowers last longer. You’ll be rewarded with blooms that stay looking fresh for days – and sometimes even for weeks.
How to pick flowers from your garden
How well your cut flowers last depends on how carefully you pick and prepare them. Here are some tips:
When cutting flowers from your garden aim to collect them early in the day after they’ve refreshed overnight and are cooler and least stressed.
- Half-fill a bucket with cold tap water and take it with you. When you cut a flower immediately plunge the stem into your bucket.
- Use sharp flower snips or scissors to make clean, crisp cuts with no tearing of stems.
- Choose flowers that have started to open and have at least some petals fully exposed – most buds won’t fully open after they are picked.
- Leave stems in the bucket of water for at least a couple of hours indoors or in a cool, shaded spot to take up as much water as possible.
- Before taking stems out of the bucket to place in a vase, recut each stem on a 45-degree angle under the water, removing about 20mm of the base.
- Cut off any leaves below the water line of your vase (don’t tear them off). Leaves left under water will quickly begin to rot and turn the water green and smelly.
- The long, spindly stems of some flowers (tulips and gerberas, for example) may bend under the weight of the individual blooms. Gather them in bunches and bind the stems together along their entire length with florist’s tape or similar strong tape and lay them flat in a shallow tray of water to soak overnight. It doesn’t matter if the blooms are wet. Next day, remove the tape and arrange the blooms in your vase.
- Florist’s wire can be used to strengthen thin or very soft stems to support blooms.
- Make sure vases are spotlessly clean and filled with fresh tap water.
- Flower preservative (commercial or home-made) should be added to the water before arranging flowers.
- Any specialised treatment to prolong life (see flower list below) should then be undertaken as each stem is transferred to the vase.
What to add to water to make flowers last longer
If you have ever bought or received flowers from a florist, you may have noticed a small sachet of flower preservative attached, with instructions for the contents to be added to the vase water.
Commercial flower preservatives usually contain a sugar to provide food for the blooms, bleach to keep the water bacteria-free and a mild acidifier, such as citric acid. Some flower suppliers and florists also sell liquid and powdered flower preservatives for home use.
You can easily make your own version at home. For each litre of tepid (skin-temperature) water you are using to fill your vases add three teaspoons of sugar, two tablespoons of white vinegar and half a teaspoon of household bleach.
One popular alternative is simply crushing an aspirin tablet and adding it to the vase water (one tablet is enough for vases up of to 3L). This is believed to help control bacteria that hasten wilting and decay.
Another alternative is to fill vases with a mix of three parts water and one part lemonade or lemon soft drink, plus a couple of drops of household bleach.
Whichever floral preservative you choose, remember to add it again when you change the water in your vases every few days.
Why some flowers should be kept apart
Vases of mixed seasonal flowers can look and smell lovely, but not all flowers make great vase companions.
You may have noticed when cutting bulb flowers such as daffodils, jonquils, irises or hyacinths that their stems produce streams of clear sap. This sticky liquid contains a range of chemicals that are generally toxic to other flowers placed into the same vase. To keep your other flowers healthy, put your bulb blooms in their own vases.
There may be other flowers you grow or are given that also exude quite a lot of sap. Treat them in the same way as bulbs and don’t use them in mixed bunches.
Safety tip: Try to avoid getting sap on your hands as it may cause skin irritations such as dermatitis. Always wear gardening gloves. If you cannot avoid the sap, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly with warm, soapy water as soon as possible.
Why some flowers are best left in the garden
Don’t be tempted to cut flowers from everything in the garden. Many flowers might look good indoors for a day or two, but they will last longer and often look better when left on the plants outdoors.
Such plants include tall types like delphiniums, hollyhocks, foxgloves, liliums and gladioli. You can certainly cut some for indoors, but you will need the right spot to show them to full advantage – and possibly some very large vases!
Special treatments for popular cut-flower species
There are special techniques that benefit some types of cut flowers. Remember to place all freshly cut flower stems into your bucket of water immediately and leave them to stand for several hours before readying them for the vase. Use preservative unless stated otherwise.
Rose
Large stems – scrape the bottom 20-30mm of stem to remove bark; thin stems – cut at a 45-degree angle. Then split the stem vertically (regardless of thickness) about 20mm. Scald the base of the stem for 30 seconds in hot water.
Hydrangea
Scald the base of the stem in boiling water for 30 seconds or singe over an open flame to seal it (use a gas burner on a stove or barbecue).
Iceland poppy
Pick when the bud is just showing colour. Singe the base of the stem over an open flame until blackened.
Gardenia and camellia
Scrape the bark off the bottom 20-30mm of woody stems. Short-stemmed blooms may be floated on a saucer of water. Mist flowers daily.
Lilac, viburnum, philadelphus and woody shrubs
Scrape bark off the bottom 20-30mm of stems.
Daffodil, jonquil, iris, gladiolus, hyacinth
Cut stems at a 45-degree angle and place immediately into vase.
Lilium
Cut stems at 45-degree angle. Remove anthers from each bloom (anthers are the brown, bean-shaped parts on the orange lily to the right). The red or brown pollen will stain almost any material, including stone benchtops.
Freesia
Trim 10mm off stems and refresh water every two days.
Orchids
Replace water every two days and cut 20mm off the base of the spikes each time. Remove spent flowers regularly.
Waratahs and proteas
Scrape the bark from the bottom 50mm or so of stem and immediately place into vase. Don’t use floral preservative with these or Australian native flowers. Replace water every few days.
Pansy, viola and violet
Pick and tie into bunches as you go, then submerge entire bunches upside-down in a bucket of cool water so the blooms and stems are under water. Leave soaking overnight before moving into small vases.
Gerbera, daisies, calendula, marigold
Scald stems in near-boiling water for 30 seconds before arranging.
Dahlia
Pick when blooms are fully developed. Scald stem for 30 seconds.
Chrysanthemum
Pick when fully open. Crush base of woody stem then stand in boiling water for 60 seconds.
Carnation and dianthus
Stand fresh-cut stems in deep water for an hour, then dip flowers in water for two to three minutes before arranging.
Sweet pea
Leave to soak in deep water for several hours before transferring to vase.
Lisianthus
Cut 20-30mm off the base of each stem and remove lower leaves. Replace water daily.
Any flowers not listed above should have their stems freshly cut under water and on a 45-degree slant before they are arranged in a vase. Remember to add floral preserver and to refresh the water and preserver every two or three days to keep your blooms in good condition for as long as possible.
Keep vases away from heating and cooling ducts and away from direct sun through a window. A room temperature that is comfortable for you will also suit your flowers. Humidity may also help. Most flowers tolerate misting but there are some, including orchids, that may develop brown spots on the petals, so try to keep them dry.
These simple tips will ensure the flowers you've been given, or picked yourself, will last longer indoors so you can enjoy more of their fragrance and beauty.
Need more help with flowers?
The Bunnings Workshop community is here to help if you need a hand with cut flowers in your home or growing flowers in the garden.
If you're looking for flowering plants that will fill your garden with perfume check out experienced Workshop member @Adam_W's guide How to choose fragrant plants.
There's also plenty of great inspiration in our Top 10 most popular garden makeovers and Top 10 most popular planter box projects.
Feel free to start a new discussion and tell us what you need.
