Fresh Flower Tips

I’m expecting some friends for lunch and I’m still in my robe, so I’ll make this quick — but chances are it’s day three since the Valentine flowers from your honey arrived at the door. If that’s the case, today is the day to give new life to those blossoms of love—Isn’t it kind of nice to have all the sap behind us for another year?

Take a moment (well, maybe it’s more like 10 minutes) to tend to your bouquet.  Change the water out completely, snip the ends of the stems, discard any dead or failing blooms and add the following simple solution (you can use one of those flower food packets but this recipe is like liquid gold for your cut flowers).

Something to remember when it comes to water for your flowers—you want to steer clear of softened or reverse osmosis water; the sodium isn’t good for cut flowers. The best water to use is distilled, purified or the water from your garden hose.

After a few more days, I like to take apart the bouquet, keeping what still looks good, then trim the stems and put it in a smaller vase, even a simple water glass with fresh water and fresh flower food. Valentine flowers, especially, are so expensive that it’s nice to make the flowers last as long possible.