How to Make Your Flowers Last

Welcome to Monday Morning Blooms! Today we're all creating flower beauty in a watering can. Flower care and vase/container care go hand-in-hand to keep your beautiful flowers last longer. Cleaning a vase or container is especially important when you are using an untraditional container, such as we all are this week. Keep your flowers lively and more lush with these tricks on How to Make Your Flowers Last. { & Clean Vases and/or containers.} At the bottom of this post, I'll share my best tips on How to Make Your Flowers Last & Clean Vases. And that is also where you will find my talented friend's links to their flower inspiration in a watering can. A watering can arrangement is perfect for this time of year, and it couldn't be easier to do! Before my tips, I wanted to share our garden with you. After re-doing it a few years ago, it's coming along so nicely! It is somewhat less labor intensive {especially for me, since Mr. FGH does all the work!} but still has pockets of flowers and I love nothing more than to be out there. I wish there was sound so that you could hear the birds singing and the fountain's water bubbling. And that you could smell that star jasmine, it smells so sweet at this time of year. I couldn't be more thrilled with how this little area of the garden turned out. Today I set my little garden table in front of the Eden rose, she is throwing out her most spectacular blooms this year! She's more or less a one time bloomer, but she puts on quite a show. It's the best place to sit and look at gardening books, plan a little, and dream of new plants to try in the May sun. I layered my table with this gorgeous rose blanket woven in Flanders. The colors are so pretty, and the center is covered with beautiful roses. A light snack of strawberries served on vintage ironstone plates to eat with antique small English forksis a simple luxury to enjoy at this time of year. I wish I could say they were grown here, but you may remember that our Bentley eats every single strawberry we've ever managed to grow before we even see them. {naughty dog!} There is so much to be thankful for, at this time of year I am so thankful for the beautiful outdoors. I find it's the small things in life that I really cherish, small things that feel like big luxuries. A perfectly beautiful rose in a small vase, eating a strawberry that is ripe and sweet because it's in season, the soft flickering candle light at dusk, eating outdoors with family or friends.

Rose Blanket > Garden Antiques >

When you are creating a flower arrangement in a watering can, the most important thing is to clean your watering can well before putting the flowers in. Dirt and grime will cause bacteria to grow, and cut flowers don't like that, it will zap their beauty and shorten the arrangements life.

CLEAN YOUR VASES THE RIGHT WAY:

Don't Use Soap.

Fresh flowers are pretty sensitive, because their stems take in water and any chemicals or other substances in it. Be extra careful in washing your vases for flowers. To clean our vases here at FrenchGardenHouse, I wipe the inside of the vase first to remove most of the sticky grime left from the previous arrangement. Adding warm water with a little splash of vinegar will help clean your vase. Sometimes if a vase is really dirty, I make a paste of vinegar and bon ami and gently rub this on the dirty part, which is most often in a line where the water stopped.

Florist Secret Tip:

My florist friend Carla uses warm water and two tablets of alka-seltzer if a vase is really dirty. She lets it sit for at least 4 hours, then rinses with fairly hot water and wipes dry.

CARE FOR YOUR FLOWERS THE RIGHT WAY:

Water Is Key.

Right after you get home, get them into water as soon as possible. If buying flowers and I will not be home for a while, or the flowers are especially delicate, I put a big plastic bucket in my car filled halfway with water and submerge the flowers before I even leave the parking lot! {remember not to drive wildly around corners! : ) } Once you have arranged your flowers, try to refresh or change their water every other day, this adds much to the long life of your bouquets.

Prepare Your Blooms.

Be sure to remove all the leaves that will be submerged in your vase. And cut each stem at an angle, then immediately submerge in water in the vase.

Feed Them.

Use that little packet of flower food that comes with most fresh flowers! It's a mix of sugar and acid that will keep the PH level stable, and some bleach to curb bacterial growth. No packet? You can add one or two drops of bleach and one teaspoon of sugar to the water - stir - this will keep the water clear too.

Arrange and Place.

One of the best ways to make sure your bouquet does well is to make sure there is enough space for them. Most of my flower arrangements are tightly packed on the flower part, but not so much where the stems are. I tend to use vases that are low and wide, which gives me enough room in the bottom for all the stems to have some space. You don't want to shove a bouquet in a skinny vase, this will make the flowers die way sooner than they should. Obviously my arrangement is in the garden, in full sun. But I'll move it onto the shaded back patio table once we're done with our visit here. Once you have made a stunning bouquet with your lovelies, place your vase in a part of your home that is not in direct sunlight. Did you know that placing flowers right near your fruit bowl is also not a good idea? Fruit releases ethylene gas and this makes your flowers wilt. Secret Monday Morning Blooms Tip: I learned this tip from our mutual friend Mary, it's a spray called Floralife Clear Crowning Glory Solution - it’s a game changer when it comes to prolonging the life of your floral arrangements! Crowning Glory is an anti-transpirant that comes as a ready-to-use spray, sealing in moisture on flowers. Thank you so much for your visit today! It's always so fun to get together with you. Please leave me a comment so I know you came...and let's get together again soon! Our dear friend Shirley is closing her blog. She needs to concentrate on spending some time with her almost 97 years young Mom, and needs lots more free time to travel to be with her, and to care for her. We will all miss her terribly! But Mary, Pam and I will continue to do a monthly Monday Morning Blooms together, and plan to have some fun guest bloomers along the way! We're away on a trip this week, but will be back with lots of new treasures for the shop, and hopefully lots of wonderful memories. Please visit my dear friends by clicking their link below:

Mary at HomeIsWhereTheBoatIs

Pam at Everyday Living

Shirley at Housepitality Designs

and me, Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse

What is your favorite "unusual" flower container that you love using for your floral creations?

A BIENTOT

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