Stop and Smell the Flowers

My wonderful husband brought home flowers for me two weeks ago. He is very sweet like that. Every once in a while, he likes to surprise me with flowers. I like to spread the flowers out around the house so that it feels like there are more of them. I also want them to last as long as possible. There are several things that will make flowers live longer. The first thing you need to consider is the kind of flower. Weed-like flowers last longer, as do buds.

Make sure that you cut the ends of the flowers before you put them in cool water. Make a diagonal cut at the bottom of the stem. Trim all of the leaves below the water line. Use cut-flower food in the water. There is usually a package in with the flowers if you buy them. If not, you can buy it or here are recipes for making it. I also put a dash of bleach in each vase. This keeps the water clean. I did not take a picture of the flowers when I first got them. Here are some pictures when they are a week old. It is best to change the water every day, but I rarely change it. I had not changed the water before I took these pictures.

Can you guess what happened to the flowers in the dining room? Below is the shot again.

If your guess was Crème, the cat, you are correct.

Here are the same flowers a week later. They have now been in the water for two weeks. The yellow flowers are starting to turn brown, but the purple ones look good.

I threw the yellow flowers in the compost, and put the purple flowers in smaller vases. I re-cut the bottoms of the stems and added more plant food and bleach. They are still beautiful. I think they will last at least one more week.

I hope your life is full of flowers.

Happy Homemaking!