It is the peak of Summer and this year the heat has been extremely erratic and temperatures have reached high degree’s than usual across India. Us humans are barely being able to survive these temperatures, hence one can image how this would affect fresh flower arrangements.
Flowers go thru a long journey after being harvested and packed at the growers to being transported to florists who trim, clean and store them in water.
The journey from the farm to the retail shop is one which is faced with extreme heat and long periods of time without water. In moderate temperatures, this is not a problem but flowers such as roses, lilies etc do take a toll upto the time they reach the florist shop.
Once they are fed with water and kept at a moderately acceptable temperature they do regain most of their lost appeal and tend to remain this way thereby allowing them to be put in an arrangement or bunch and delivered to the end recipient.
A person who receives a bouquet has to then take care of the flowers to maintain the freshness and beauty so that he or she can enjoy the flowers for a few days. They can follow a few steps and tricks to pro long their bouquets.
One should remove any dead leaves from the stems of the flowers as these hold certain bacteria and organisms that can shorten the life of the flowers.
Spraying your flowers with water will only work for a few varieties of flowers and may end up damaging your flower. Flowers such as roses, orchids benefit with a light spray on the petals of flowers. Other flowers will not benefit the same way.
Every bouquet of flowers should be cut at the base every 2nd day at a slanting angle to keep them fresh and water should be changed as well at the same time. Re-cutting the flower stems submerged in water helps as well. Some will recommend cutting them in lukewarm water but that is not beneficial for all flower varieties. Always make sure the bottom of the stem has a more whitish look rather than brown or black. If it is not drinking enough water it will show darker colors.
Always keep flowers away from sunlight or any source of wind or air such as a fan. These will shorten the life of your flowers tremendously. Whilst natural light is necessary for growth, direct sunlight or any extreme source of heat will damage the blooms.
One can easily remove dead petals of flowers such as roses by simply plucking them with your fingers and thereby enhancing your look of your bouquet.
Hand bunches should be immediately removed off their wrapping paper and put in a vase full of water. At May Flower we provide each hand bunch with a wet cotton soaked in water so the bunch will be hydrated for a few hours till it is delivered to the receiver who has enough time to put it in water.
Arrangements in floral foam tend to drink in a lot of water so one should make sure that water is put in the container atleast twice a day till it just about overflowers.
These are some of the tips we follow for our customers in Mumbai and other cities in India where temperatures reach really high degree’s.