We all love fresh, scented bouquets. They brighten up any home, office or work environment. But all too soon our flowers bloom, wilt then die.
As part of our sustainable business practices we’re sharing our florists tips for ways you can make a difference to the environment, while still enjoying your beautiful bouquets.

Florist Tip – Don’t Overfill the Vase

It’s a common misconception that more is better…. Sometimes less is better.
When you receive your next beautiful flowery delivery, first ensure that your vase is clean.
How much water you need in your vase depends on your flowers. If you have a hand tied bouquet, you will need to fill the vase with water because the stem length will vary. However, if you have bunches of single flowers, eg lillies, tulips, or single stem flowers where they are all the same length, you can just put a couple inches of water in the bottom of the vase.
Reducing the amount of water in your vase will reduce the growth of bacteria. Change the water every two days to prevent it from drying up or becoming stagnant or mouldy.
Your flowers will only drink through the cut stem at the end, so to prolong their life, recut the stem when you get your flowers. This will help them fully absorb the water.

Tulips

Tulips need a little extra care than some other flowers. Ensure you only put a small amount of water in the vase, as they will stand straighter this way.
Also your tulips bloom and become more open, they will seem to “flop” and become like graceful loading varies in the vase. This is because tulips continue to grow once cut. Flower food is not necessary for tulips, however tulips are extremely thirsty. Check the water level in the vase daily.
Keep your tulips in a cool room and use cold water in the vase – you can even drop an ice cube in the water, to help keep the temperature down. The ice cube will eventually melt and you can replace with a new ice cube when you replace the water. You can also place an ice cube in tulips grown in containers. It will help them stay in bloom longer when grown indoors.

Compost your old flowers

Once your flowers have wilted and died, don’t forget to compost them, either in your own compost pile, or in your green council bin.

Care for your vase

For the longest vase life, change the water in the vase daily when in use.
Once your flowers have died, clean your vase and store ready for your next bouquet. Or, if you don’t want your vase anymore, you can donate your vase to us, and we’ll recycle it.

For more florist tips on how to go green with your bouquets, follow us on Facebook or subscribe to our newsletters.

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