Journal / Care
Flower care, properly.
Everything we send is conditioned in the studio before it leaves. A few small habits at home will keep it at its best for considerably longer.
Unwrap them straight away
Flowers travel best tied and wrapped, but they should not stay that way. Undo the wrapping, cut the tie and let the stems fall into their natural shape before you do anything else.
Start with a clean vessel
Wash the vase with hot soapy water and rinse it well. Most flowers fade early because of bacteria in the water rather than anything to do with the flowers themselves.
Cut on a sharp diagonal
Take two or three centimetres off each stem with sharp scissors or a knife, cutting at an angle so the stem cannot sit flat on the base of the vase. Strip any leaves that will sit below the waterline.
Cool, fresh, shallow-changed water
Fill with cool water and change it every two days, re-trimming the stems a little each time. If your flowers arrived with a sachet of flower food, use it — it feeds the stems and slows bacteria.
Choose the right spot
Out of direct sun, away from radiators and draughts, and not next to the fruit bowl — ripening fruit gives off ethylene, which ages flowers quickly.
Tend them as they go
Pull out any stem that turns before the others so it does not spoil the rest, and let the arrangement become looser and quieter as the week goes on. Seedheads, grasses and foliage often look their best at the very end.
A few particular flowers.
Flowers sent in a box
Flowers packed flat for posting are cut slightly closed on purpose. Unpack them, cut the stems, and give them a few hours in deep water in a cool room — they will open over the following day.
Tulips, hellebores and anemones
These drink heavily in their first day and will move towards the light, so top up the water and turn the vase if you want them upright.
Woody and blossom stems
Blossom, lilac and hydrangea prefer a deep drink. Cut them generously and let them stand in plenty of water before arranging.
Drying rather than discarding
Hydrangea, statice, grasses and seedheads dry beautifully. Hang them upside down somewhere dark and dry, out of the sun, and keep them for the winter.