Flower bouquet reviews: How to care for flowers
Making the most of your flowers
Most bouquets in our snapshot test of online florists and flower delivery services arrived with care instructions and flower food.
Cut flowers can last well over a week depending on their quality and type. Follow these top tips to keep your bouquet bright and in bloom for as long as possible.
Careful arrangement can help flowers last longer
Arranging flowers in a vase
- Remove all packaging using sharp scissors, taking care not to damage the flowers.
- If the bouquet has an aqua-pack or water bubble around its stems, remove it over a sink. Pierce water bubbles first and let the water drain away.
- If your bouquet is hand tied (usually with string or ribbon) it will already have been shaped and arranged by a florist and is ready to be placed straight into a vase.
- Make sure your vase is completely clean before adding flowers or water, as residue can harbour bacteria that cause flowers to wilt. Always use a vase that has been cleaned with a mild detergent and thoroughly rinsed with fresh water.
- If you want to arrange the flowers yourself, start by inserting foliage and filler flowers into the vase. Criss-cross the stems as you insert them to create a grid that will help to hold other flowers in place. Add the key feature flowers (such as roses or lilies) into the foliage, ensuring they are well spaced to show at all angles.
- Cut 2-3cm (about an inch) diagonally off the end of stems to aid water absorption. Make sure your knife or scissors are sharp to avoid crushing. If the flowers start to wilt, cutting off a bit more stem may help.
- Fill the vase with lukewarm water and add cut-flower food. Ideally use the quantities shown on the packet but, if this would make the water in the vase very shallow, it’s better to add more water.
Where to display flowers
- Flowers thrive in cool positions. Put the flowers in a cool place, out of direct sun and draughts, and not above a radiator.
- Keep lilies out of the reach of cats. The flowers and pollen are highly poisonous to them. Lily pollen can also stain, so do not put lilies on or near light-coloured table cloths or fabric. Use sticky tape to remove spilled lily pollen – water will make the stain worse.
- As blooms begin to die, remove them from the bouquet. Not only do dead blooms look unsightly, but they give off gases that cause the other flowers to die more quickly. Ripening fruit may have a similar effect, so it’s best to keep your flowers away from fruit bowls.
Trimming flower stems may help wilting flowers look more perky
Caring for cut flowers
- Strip off all leaves which fall below the water line in the vase, otherwise the water will discolour and the flowers won't last so well.
- Top up the water in the vase regularly, adding more cut-flower food, if possible. Change the water completely after five or six days.
- If roses start to droop, recut, wrap them up tightly in damp newspaper past the head height and plunge them into very hot water. Leave for several hours or all night and the heads should straighten up.
- Do not bash flower stems – this will hinder the stems’ water absorption.
- Do not add bleach, aspirin or coins to the water – at best they'll do nothing, and at worst they might harm your flowers. Your best bet is clean water and flower food.
- Don't put daffodils or tulips in the same vase as non-bulbous flowers. They give off a slime that can affect other flowers.
- If the water looks cloudy or has developed an unpleasant smell, it should be changed and the vase cleaned.