Cindy's Recipes and Writings
Cut flowers do more than bring the great outdoors inside. Beautiful bouquets brighten moods. Uplifting arrangements add color and fragrance to a room.
Here are some tips for harvesting flowers and keeping those blooms a bit longer.
- Cut your flowers in the morning. Plants start the day from the ground up. Energy returns to the stems and leaves to capture sunlight for food production. Cutting early is less shocking to the plant.
- Use sharp, clean tools to help prevent infections to the plant.
- You probably heard this before to re-cut stems under running water and transfer to a clean vase filled with water. You do this for two reasons. First, the cut stem starts to “heal” if left dry too long and won’t uptake any water. Second, a clean cut will help stave off bacteria.
- Change the water daily to avoid mold forming.
Simple flower arranging starts with remembering the rule of 3’s.
- Select 3 or increments of 3 of each kind of flower.
- Place a tall vertical flower like a gladiola in the center of the arrangement.
- Add flowers in 3’s: left, center, right and stagger the heights and colors as you fill the vase.
- Use smaller flowers and foliage to fill in any gaps.
- There is no right or wrong way to arrange flowers. Do what makes you smile!
