How to Revive Flowers

Applying simple tricks to revive fresh cut flowers will give them a longer life in the vase.

Fresh-cut flower bouquets add so much life and color to a room that it's a pity they don't live indefinitely. While most fresh flowers last anywhere from 4 to 7 days, it's possible to revive and refresh them---even prolong their lives a little. Handheld bouquets require techniques distinct from vase bouquets to perk them up, and vase flower refreshment techniques ultimately depend on the specific flower type. There are several techniques which work consistently for all cut flowers.

Things You'll Need

• Fresh room-temperature water
• Sharp knife or scissors
• Hammer
• Misting spray bottle
• Drinking glasses

Instructions

Container Bouquets

1. Change water daily. Keep the vase or container full of fresh water. A high water level prolongs cut flower life, and fresh water is even more important.

2. Remove the flowers from the container and cut the stems every 2 to 3 days. Make the cut, either with a sharp knife or a sharp pair of scissors, at an angle on the stem. Each time you cut the stems, remove a ¾ inch to 1 inch length of stem. An angle cut will give the flower stem more surface area by which to take up water. A fresh cut will also remove any stem-ends that are growing soft or mushy in the water. If a flower is from a tree---and the stem is a branch---cut the branch at an angle and then use a hammer to smash the end open even further. This is effective in reviving flowers such as lilacs, dogwood, and forsythia.

3. Remove all leaves along the stem which sit below the water line inside the container. Submerged leaves quickly become debris in the water as they break down, and can breed bacteria which will cause flowers to wilt faster.

4. Remove any completely dead stems from the entire arrangement to help it last longer; also remove browning outside petals from flowers with concentric petal layers (such as roses). As with moldy fruit, dying or deteriorating flowers will speed other flowers in the same container along toward the same state.

5. Certain wilting flowers, like roses, can benefit from a bath. After cutting their stems, fully submerge them---bloom to stem---in the kitchen sink, filled with cool water. Keep them submerged for 20 to 60 minutes. The water they absorb will help them plump back up. Cut bulb flowers---such as tulips---with bending stems, will stand back up if you make a tiny, shallow vertical slit in the stem just below the flower.

Handheld Bouquets

1. Keep handheld bouquets out of direct sunlight, heat and humidity. They may be kept in a cool refrigerator for a few hours leading up to their use, but not in a very cold draft.

2. Place the stems of the bouquets in water (drinking glasses work well) until the bouquets will be used. Remove any brown outer petals or leaves.

3. Mist the heads of the flowers with cool water from time to time to revive the petals. Make sure the misting spray bottle gently mists instead of streams or sprays the water.

Tips & Warnings

• Use caution when handling a sharp knife to angle-cut stems---especially branch stems---which can cause knife slippage.

References

• "The Knot Book of Wedding Flowers"; Carl Roney; 2002
• "The Art of Floral Arranging"; Eileen W. Johnson; 2007
• Telaflora: Fresh Flower Care.