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Lisa’s New Book The Cut Flower Handbook. Learn More

Getting More from your Cut Flowers

Harvesting Garden Flowers:
  • When going to the garden to harvest, take a clean plastic container filled with a mixture of water and floral preservative.
  • Harvest in the morning after the dew has dried.
  • Use sharp by-pass shears for harvesting.
  • Make the cut at the base of the stem even if you only need a short flower. Where you make the cut dictates where the next stem grows from.
  • Don’t leave flowers sitting out in the sun long once harvested. Move them indoors as soon as your container is full.
  • Allow flowers to recover from harvesting by sitting in a cool, dark spot for a few hours before arranging.
  • Proceed to All Flowers
Store bought flowers:
  • Take a clean plastic container filled with a mixture of water and floral preservative along in the car to pick-up your flowers.
  • Make flower pick-up the last stop of your errands. Flowers literally meltdown like ice cream in a car on a warm or hot day—even in water.
  • Once home, re-cut stems and dip in the instant flower hydration Quick-Dip following directions.
  • This treatment will improve the water uptake of the stems which will increase the vase life of your flowers. After dipping, place the stems in a mixture of water and floral preservative. Retail flowers (not local grown) have traveled a great distance and undergone a great deal of stress; the rehydration step revitalizes and invigorates them.
    • Proceed to All Flowers
All Flowers:
  • The only foliage that should be left on a flower stem or foliage is that which contributes to the arrangement. All other foliage should be removed. This lightens the load on the stem, adding days of life to your bouquet.
  • Floral preservative mixed according to directions does make a difference. It prevents the growth of things you don’t want in the water and it feeds your flowers, extending their vase life.
  • Change out your water every few days if needed and trim the stems ½-1” each time.
  • Be sure to rustle your flowers up from time to time to get that garden fresh fragrance filling the house!

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– Lisa

Lisa Mason Ziegler, founder of The Gardener’s Workshop and Flower Farming School Online. Award-winning Author of Vegetables Love Flowers, and Cool Flowers. Watch Lisa’s Story and view her blog Field & Garden. Connect with Lisa on Facebook  and Instagram!