As Fall progresses, our homes become filled with the vivid colors and pleasant presence of cut flowers, particularly the cherished sunflower. These golden beauties, along with other summer blooms, can brighten any room and uplift our moods. However, keeping the freshness and lifespan of cut flowers can be difficult. Let’s look at how to keep your sunflowers and other cut bouquets of flowers looking fresh.
The Art of Selection
The route to a long-lasting bouquet begins with selection. When selecting sunflowers or other cut flowers:
- Look for blooms that have just started to open. Fully bloomed flowers may appear amazing at first, but they will last less time in the vase. Check the stems for firmness and avoid those that show symptoms of deterioration or discoloration. Choose sunflowers with vivid, strong petals and a solid, green base beneath the flower crown.
Preparing Your Flowers
After you’ve chosen your ideal bouquet, adequate preparation is essential.
Trim the stems: At a 45-degree angle, cut about 1-2 inches from the bottom of each stem using sharp, clean scissors or pruning shears. This increases the available surface area for water absorption.
Remove leaves: Remove any leaves that will be below the waterline in the vase. Submerged leaves can harbor bacteria, reducing the lifespan of your blooms.
Creating the Ideal Environment
The atmosphere you create for your cut flowers has a big impact on their lifetime.
Choose the appropriate vase: Make sure your vase is clean and adequately proportioned. Sunflowers have robust stalks, so a sturdy vase with a wide mouth works best.
Fill your vase with clean, cool water. Warm water promotes bacterial development, causing flowers to wilt faster.
Add flower food: Add one droplet of bleach to your vase and fill ¾ full of water.
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Daily Care Routine
Establish a regular care plan to keep your sunflowers and other cut flowers at their best:
Change the water: Replace the water in your vase every 2-3 days, or when it appears hazy. This suppresses bacterial growth.
Trim the stems every time you change the water, about half an inch from the bottom. This restores their ability to absorb water.
Remove wilted blooms: Pluck any flowers that have started to wilt. They can have an impact on the overall health of the flowers. If only one or two petals are wilting, take off only these petals. Another crazy thing you can do is this: Remove all the petals if they’re browning. You’ll be left with the big, beautiful centre, surrounded by the leaves. Changes the whole look without throwing the stem away.
Special Care for Sunflowers
Sunflowers, with their enormous blooms and robust stalks, require special care:
Sunflower stems may require additional support due to their heavy heads. Consider using floral tape to hold numerous stems together, or a grid of clear tape over the vase’s mouth.
Rotate the vase: Sunflowers are heliotropic, which means they turn towards the sun. Rotate your vase a quarter turn every day to keep it from bending too far in one direction.