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Saturday, May 12, 2001
Keeping Mom's flowers fresh

Scripps Howard News Service

Nothings says "I love you" like flowers, and many mothers will find out just how much they are loved this weekend. Mother's Day is the second biggest flower day in America, just behind Valentine's Day. If you are one of those lucky mothers whose children support the floral industry by honoring you on this special day, you need to know how to make your flowers last as long as possible.
   Adequate water is the key to long floral life. The first thing you need to do to any flowers you receive is add water. Most arrangements have limited water to prevent spilling during shipping. In a glass vase, make sure all stem ends are at least 2 to 3 inches in the water. If you get an arrangement in floral foam, make sure that you have water in the reservoir, not just moist foam.
   Remember that flowers drink a lot of water, which means add water daily to keep your flowers from drying out.
   Preserving beauty
   Also, try adding preservatives. Your best option is a prepackaged floral preservative. These little packets usually are provided when flowers are purchased. If not, ask your favorite florist to sell you a few packets to keep on hand. Always read the package and follow directions to make sure you have the proper concentration of preservative in the water.
   Since a small packet usually makes up at least a gallon of preservative, you might want to mix the solution in an empty plastic water jug. Doing so will allow you to add preservative each time you give your flowers a drink. Just make sure you clearly mark the bottle with a permanent marker and keep it out of reach of children.
   Homemade preserves
   There are a number of homemade concoctions used as floral preservatives. These are not your best bet since most people don't know how much of each ingredient to mix. Each one usually contains an acidifier, a sugar source and a bactericide. Although I don't recommend home tonics, you might be interested in why each ingredient is usually added to these mixtures. Aspirin or lemon juice are the most common acidifiers. A clear soft drink like Sprite or 7UP are commonly used as a sugar source, but dissolved sugar will work. Finally, a small amount of bleach is commonly used as the bactericide. Another way to help flowers, especially roses, to stay fresh is to recut the stems. Making fresh cuts is important when you put flowers in a vase, especially if you receive them in paper since the water-conducting tissues will close up if flowers remain out of water for even a few minutes. The fresh cut will reopen the vascular system and help the flowers drink better. Roses will actually last longer if they are recut every 2 to 3 days.
   Recutting stems
   Whenever you cut flowers, make sure you use a sharp, non-serrated knife. The knife should be cleaned in a 10 percent bleach solution to remove any bacteria. Or use a sharp pair of bypass handpruners or floral shears.
   All cuts should be made at an angle to maximize the surface area for water to move into the base of the stems. If a cut looks jagged, recut it a little higher to ensure a clean cut.
   One thing you might have noticed is that some flowers like chrysanthemums, carnations, statice and baby's breath last a long time. Others such as roses, lilies and delphinium may be much shorter lived in your arrangement. Unfortunately, they often are used in the same arrangement leaving you with an untidy look after a few days.
   To refresh these arrangements, consider going to your favorite florist or grocery store and purchasing some replacements for the short-lived flowers after a few days. Remove the decaying flowers a few at a time and replace them with similar flowers so that you keep the shape of the design intact.
   By following these simple tips, you should be able to enjoy your bouquet of flowers for many days to come.


Michael Womack is a horticulturist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Got a question? Michael Womack will answer landscape and gardening questions. Call 886-4648, category 3025 to record your question. Write Keep It Green, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, TX 78469 or email wm-womack@tamu.edu

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