Fresh Flowers last for any period between a few hours and a few weeks, depending on the type of flowers brought and how well they are cared for in the home. By following a few simple rules however, the life of cut flowers can be extended and your enjoyment of them can be increased.

Here are a few basic inexpensive techniques that will achieve the aim of maximising the vase life of good quality flowers:

Use a clean vase.
Clean dirty vase by filling with warm water, adding a teaspoon of bleach and letting them stand for three hours.

Add clean water and a preservative.
The flower preservative will keep the water clean and feed the flowers.

Strip all leaves from the part of the stem placed under water.
Leaves contain bacteria and fungi that will quickly proliferate and foul the water.

Cut stems underwater and at an angle.
Cut stems at an angel with a sharp knife or secateurs while submerged. Avoid blunt scissors these will damage the base of stem and prevent water uptake. Cutting at an angle also prevents stem from sitting flat on the bottom of the vase and thereby inhibiting water uptake.

Place flowers in the vase.
Make sure stems are NOT jammed into the vase and that ends of stems are not squashed against the bottom of the vase.

Choose display site carefully.
Keep flowers away from direct sunlight and other sources of heat, such as heaters, lamps, or television sets. Avoid draughts and never place flowers near ripening fruit. The latter is a source of the gas ethylene and accelerates aging in flowers.

Change vase water regularly.
Vase water should be changed every two three days. At the same time, re-trim stems by cutting 1 to 2cm off the ends.

Remove dying of damaged flowers and leaves.
This prevents flowers becoming contaminated by ethylene emitted by dying flowers.