Flower & Plant Care
Next Step: Taking Care of Your Bouquet of Cut Flowers
You bought a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers at Ginkgo Floral Design. Now you are at home and are wondering how to best care for your flowers to have a longer lasting effect?
For bouquets of cut flowers we recommend a fresh cut of the stems before you place them in a vase or any other container. It is important that the surface at the point of cutting is not dry when you put them into the vase. If you leave the cut surface dry it could mean air gets into the xylem or the ” water pipes ” of the flowers. These parts of the flowers are responsible for bringing the water to the petals at the top of the stem and for having the blossoms shine in your bouquet. If there is air in the “water pipes” it would disrupt the cohesion of water in the stems, like you have air in the suction pipes of a water pump. The water pump can not suck up the water. It works similarly in your flower stems. The blooms at the top are deprived of water! They will start to wilt and this is what we want to prevent by giving the stems a fresh cut before putting them into the vase. This is the first step to ensure a smiling happy bouquet in your home.
The second step to ensure a good life for your flower bouquet would be to change the water in the vase. We recommend changing the vase water every second day. Our goal is to suppress the growth of bacteria in the water. When the stems suck up the water the bacteria starts to clog the entrance of the xylem and prevent the water from going up to the petals. So to ensure happy blooming cut flowers, we also recommend in addition to changing the water, a fresh cut of the stems to keep the water flowing.
You might wonder why we do not emphasize the use of flower fresh powder. Yes, you can use it, but at your home it is not necessary since we have conditioned all the cut flowers for you in the store. The stems are soaked with a solution to keep your bouquet smiling at you.