Unlike the imported blooms that one would find in a grocery store, locally grown flowers are often only cut from the fields a few days before arriving in our homes. That means they're right at the beginning of their peak and ready to wow! We've had reports of our bouquets lasting weeks with proper care.
To get the most out of your bouquets, here's how we recommend you care for them:
1. Try to get home right away after picking up your bouquet. Leaving fresh flowers in a car leaves them exposed to the elements and the risk of either cooking or freezing.
2. When you get home, unwrap your bouquet, give those stems a good snip, and place immediately into a clean vase full of fresh water. A well suited vase will be about half to two thirds the height of your bouquet and snug but not tight around the width. Your goal is to have adequate support for the stems while allowing airflow for the blooms. Fill halfway with cool water. If any of your stems have leaves below your waterline they should be removed.
3. Keep your flowers in a room-temperature area where they'll be out of direct sunlight and out of the way of any fans, hands, heaters, or air conditioners. Air flow is good, but causing the flowers mechanical damage is not.
4. Check their water level daily and refill as needed.
5. Re-cut the stems and wash your vase with anti-bacterial dish soap or bleach every few days. This keeps stem-eating bacteria from festering. We've heard people swear by tossing in a copper penny as a natural fungicide- if you try this, make sure you're using a high copper content (pre-1982) penny!
6. Repeat as long as the flowers allow, cleaning or removing mushy stems along the way.
Note for gifting:
If you intend to gift the blooms shortly after pickup, feel free to leave them upright and in their wrap. Somewhere cool and shaded like your basement, garage, or even refrigerator will do. When you deliver, share the above advice with your intended recipient!
If you're waiting a few days to deliver them you'll want to give the bouquet its first cut and place it in water until you're able to hand them off.