Help Your Bouquet Stay Fresh All Week: A Simple Cut-Flower Routine

The moment your bouquet is handed over at the door, half the job is done. The other half is how long it stays beautiful once it is inside. The good news is that it doesn't take much: with a few simple habits, most cut flowers comfortably last a week. Feel free to pass these notes on to the person you sent them to.

The first hour at home

The first few hours matter most. Start by washing the vase properly. Then take 2–3 cm off every stem with a sharp knife or scissors, cutting on a slant — a slanted cut gives the stem more surface to drink through. Doing it under a running tap also keeps air from getting into the stem.

Getting the water right

Fill the vase with room-temperature or slightly lukewarm water, which most flowers prefer. If a small sachet of flower food came with the bouquet, don't throw it away; stir it in following the instructions on the packet.

Before the stems go in, pull off any leaves that would end up under water. Submerged leaves rot, rotting leaves mean bacteria, and bacteria clog the channels the stems use to take up water.

Finding the right spot

• Skip windowsills in direct sun, anywhere near a radiator, and the path of an air-conditioning vent.
• Keep it away from the fruit bowl. Ripening fruit gives off ethylene gas, and ethylene makes flowers wilt sooner.

A two-day ritual

Every two days, empty the vase, refill it with fresh water and trim the stems a little. If the water turns cloudy, don't wait — cloudy water cuts a bouquet's life short faster than anything else.

While you are at it, pick out fading blooms and dry leaves. The rest will last longer and the bouquet will look tidier. Don't give up on a rose whose head has drooped: re-cut the stem and let it stand in lukewarm water for a few hours, and it will often perk up.

Boxes and arrangements

If you chose flowers in a box or an arrangement, the stems sit in water-holding florist's foam rather than a vase. Give the foam a little water every day so it stays wet, without letting a puddle form at the bottom of the box.

Potted plants play by different rules

For potted plants like orchids and anthuriums, you need just two things: a bright spot out of direct sun, and water only once the top of the soil is dry. Too much water is the problem they run into most often.

If the flowers arrived in poor shape

If your flowers were delivered damaged or wilted, send us a photo within 24 hours of delivery. We will send them again or give you a refund.