Are your flowers vase worthy? Find out which blooms live the longest in vases and learn the little tricks that ensure they stay fresh and perky long after they leave your garden!
Flowers with long vase life:
- Roses – the classic of classics, long stemmed varieties make excellent vase enhancers
- Orchids – Easy to love and maintain these make a statement all by themselves!
- Lilies – a favorite for lovers of flashy blooms, these trumpet-like flowers add joy to any arrangement!
- Gladiolas – also known as ‘sword lily’, these charming flower wands add eye-catching vertical interest that is simply magical!
- Carnations – This flower offers bold colors and interesting texture in a petite package. Their relatively short yet sturdy stems are perfect for shallower vases and staggering arrangements by height.
- Chrysanthemums (Mums) – Striking the perfect balance of frilly and refined, these blooms create outstanding presence in traditional and modern arrangements
Long vase life tips:
- Clean your vase before using. When you rinse your vase you’re not just knocking the dust off – you’re eliminating bacteria that linger on the inside that can harm you flowers and decrease their overall vase life. A little bleach goes a long way!
- Put flower in water immediately. Cool water is your first defense against wilting and the sooner you get your fresh cut stems in there the better.
- Don’t pinch the stems. You want to be quick, but not clumsy when gathering your cut flowers. Lay your cut flowers in a trug for easy and gentle mobility
- Make clean, even cuts and use quality tools to do so
- Cut the stem an inch from the bottom at an angle so that the stem isn’t resting flat against the bottom where is will be deprived of water
- Keep the arrangement out of direct sunlight to prevent wilting
- The fewer stems the better. Sometimes our first instinct is to shove all of our favorite blooms in the same vase, but cut flowers tend to do better with some elbow room.