PRODUCT CARE
FLOWER CARE BY TYPE
Although care tips apply to all fresh cut flowers, there are care tips applicable to each flower type. These flower type care tips may help you with your bouquet of mixed flowers.
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1. CARE TIPS FOR LILIES
- Estimated Life Span – 5-11 Days
- Sensitivity to Fruit & Veg (Ethylene) – Moderately
- Toxic to Animals - Yes
Handle With Care
Lilies bruise very easily so be careful when handling them. Use the stems as a handle an avoid handling the head of the stem with your hands.
Look at How They Bloom
Once delivered, lilies will open within the first 24-48 hours after being put into fresh water with flower food. Lilies don’t always open at the same rate and some flower heads may be open sooner than others. You can cut any wilted lily heads close to the main stem to get the best out of your lilies.
Watch Out for the Pollen
Lily pollen can stain your skin, clothing and furniture so be careful when handling lilies once they bloom.
How to Remove Lily Pollen:
- Simply pluck the individual pollen pods from the stamen of the flower shown in the image.
- You may want to wear some disposable gloves to make sure you don’t get your hands dirty.
Tip (If you get lily pollen on your cloths do not rub but use sellotape to remove by placing sticky side on top of stain and peel off).
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2. CARE TIPS FOR ROSES
- Estimated Life Span – 5-12 Days
- Sensitivity to Fruit & Veg (Ethylene) – Moderately
- Toxic to Animals - No
Keep them Cool
Like many stems, roses last much longer in a cool area and wilt quickly in direct sunlight or warmth. Keep your roses cool but not in a draught to make sure they are happy.
Give Them a Tall Drink
Flowers with woody stems like roses love a tall drink so keep on top of your water level making sure to change it when it becomes even slightly cloudy.
Handle with Care
When handling your roses, however tempted you may be, be sure not to touch the inside petals with your fingers. Your hands are warm and every time you touch these petals will shorten the life span of your roses. Our recommendation is to hold a rose by the stem.
Remove Guard Petals
Roses will have discoloured petals around the flower’s outer edge when delivered. Don’t worry, these are just to protect the rose (hence the name). Remove these as they often fall from the flower into your vase water or box.
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3. CARNATIONS - keep away from fruits and veggies!
The same general care guidelines described above apply to carnations, including their sensitivity to ethylene, a harmless (note: it does not harm humans or animals), naturally produced gas, which can be released by fruits, vegetables, and decaying floral materials. Keep arranged carnations free of ethylene producing materials for best results. When you re-cut the stems, cut them just above one of the nodes that run up the flower's stalk. This will allow the stem to more easily draw the water it needs. When properly cared for carnations can last 7-14 days, depending on variety and season
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4. DAISIES - are thirsty flowers!
The same general care guidelines described above apply to daisies, but keep in mind that these are particularly thirsty flowers, so check their water level often, and be sure that the vase is full and any foam materials are completely saturated.
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5. HYDRANGEA - revive wilting blossoms with warm water!
Hydrangeas have woody stems that need to draw water for maximum vase life. If a blossom wilts prematurely, remove it from the design, recut the stem at a sharp angle and place in warm water for at least one hour. The flower should be revived and ready to take its place in the design. For best results keep the water level in their vase full. Hydrangeas can also be dried, by hanging them upside down in a warm spot. Although the color will fade slightly – the dried flowers can last between 9 months to a year.
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6. CARE TIPS FOR TULIPS
- Estimated Life Span – 5-8 Days
- Sensitivity to Fruit & Veg (Ethylene) – Slightly
- Toxic to Animals - Yes
Choose the Right Vase
Tulips are also well known to bend with gravity. Bear this in mind when you are selecting a vase or container. Find a container that will support at least half the stem if not 2/3rds of the stem length.
Recut More Often
Tulips grow a few inches after they are cut and will continue to grow throughout their vase life. To make sure they don’t topple or grow taller than their neighbouring blooms, cut the tulip stems more often.
Rotate
This stem will also bend towards the nearest light source. To stop them bending over a vase too much, rotate your vase or container every day to counter act this.
Seasonal Beauty
Tulips bloom best during certain seasons; this is why we feature them primarily in our Winter and Spring Range.
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6. INFINITY ROSES CARE
Do no Water:
Thanks to our preservation process using a patented method, infinity roses require no water.
Do not expose to direct sunlight
Your long lasting roses do not require sunlight to maintain their beautiful opulence.
Display at room temprature
When showcasing your luxury roses, avoid rooms that are too cool or too warm.
Leave the rose in the dome, glass, arcylic box
Do not remove the rose from the dome, this can cause damage to the rose and jeopardize their structural integrity.
Dust gently as needed
To remove dust that collects on your infinity rose some, lightly dust your arrangement with a duster as needed. As all of our Infinity arrangements are real florals which have been preserved using a patented method, there may be some differences in height, size and colour. This does not affect the longevity of your Infinity rose.
Ideal humidity levels are between 30% to 45%. Our florals are infused with colour, so just like fresh roses over the course of their life, their colour will slowly fade.
Please remove all plastic covers and bubble wrap.
Please follow the below given instructions to in order take good care of your flowers:
Caution
- If your flowers came already arranged in a basket, Box or other container with foam, add fresh water
every day, as buds deteriorate clip away to allow others to open and follow instructions from Step 5.
Or you can put them in a vase or any glass container by following the instructions bellow from Step 1 - If your flowers came in plastic, remove this as soon as possible (Bouquets are usually delivered in water, so you should do this over a sink) and follow the instructions below from Step 1.
1. WASH THE VASE
It’s not every day you receive beautiful fresh flowers, so it’s likely your vase may have been sat patiently at the back of the cupboard collecting dust.
Don’t Dry With a Towel
Carefully wash your vase with hot water & a small cap of bleach together with a sponge. Allow the vase to dry naturally upside down rather than using a towel.
Why?
This is the first step to ensuring no bacteria is present when water and flowers are introduced into the vase.
2. TOP UP THE WATER
Remember the more flowers in the arrangement the more water they'll consume, so check the water level in your vase daily and keep it topped up. Flowers are thirsty beings, some varieties more so than others, so this is key to keeping them looking their best for longer. Ideally the vase should always be three-quarters full of water. Don't forget to change the water completely after day two and to clean the vase thoroughly before refilling. This simple practice can really help extend the vase life of your flowers.
Condition Your Water
Tap water is suitable for fresh flowers but it does need to be conditioned to be ideal for thriving blooms.
Softer Stems
Firstly, look at the stems of your flowers, if they are predominantly woody stems like these roses, they prefer a deep drink, so fill the vase up to around 2/3rds full with tap water.
Woody Stems
If the stems are predominantly softer stems (like tulips) then fill the vase just under half way with tap water as they prefer a more shallow drink.
Allow Vase Water to Settle
Once you’ve done that, put the vase to one side and leave it for a while to allow some of the larger air bubbles to escape and for the water to reach room temperature.
Why?
Flowers take warmer water in more efficiently than cold so, putting fresh flowers in warmer water for their first
drink is crucial.
Air bubbles can get stuck in the bottom of stems which can interfere with water uptake.
3. ONLY USE THE FLOWER FOOD
Flower food has been scientifically developed to prolong the life of your flowers so make sure you use it. The food will normally contain nutrients to feed your flowers. Add a flower food sachet to your vase of water and make sure it’s fully dissolved with a quick stir. Follow the instructions on the packet for best results.
What is Flower Food?
Flower food is a concoction of bleach (bactericide), sugar and an citric acid (acidifier).The three ingredients contained in flower food create the perfect environment for cut flowers.
Be Careful not to Overdose
If you’re being creative with your blooms and split them into small bouquets, make sure you still use the sachet but be careful not to overdose. The average sachet will contain the right dosage for 1 litre of water.
Why does it work?
Bleach eliminates harmful bacteria. Sugar provides flowers with the energy to allow them to blossom. Citric acid balances the PH of tap water, dissolves air bubbles and improves the effectiveness of the bleach.
Avoid Old Wives Tales, They Often do More Harm than Good…
- The reason old wives tales such as adding a penny, vodka, aspirin or lemonade don’t work is because they don’t combine the three key ingredients to make the perfect environment for cut flowers.
- Take lemonade for example, although lemonade will provide the much-needed sugar cut flowers need for energy, without the bleach, bacteria will also thrive on this sugar. Lemonade also contains a lot of bubbles which will clog stems very easily and this isn’t good.
Make Your Own Flower Food
This is one of the most important steps, so if you don’t have a flower food sachet, you can make your own at home to add to your vase:
- 1 teaspoon of household sugar
- 1 teaspoon of clear unscented household bleach
- 2 teaspoons of lemon/lime juice
Mix this with a quarter cup of warm water and stir the mixture until fully dissolved. If you can’t do this, replace your vase water every 24 hours.
4. PREPARE YOUR STEMS CUT (AND RECUT) THE STEMS
Measure
Place the stems next to your vase to measure the right height for them to be cut.
Clean
When re-cutting your stems take this opportunity to remove any wilted foliage faded blooms or any foliage that will fall below the waterline of your vase.
Why?
If any foliage is left below the waterline, it will firstly introduce bacteria back into your clean water and will also decompose quickly being submerged.
Cut
To enable your flowers to take up as much water as possible, you’ll need to cut the stems daily. To get the best cut, use a sharp knife or scissors and cut at an angle. Never use blunt blades as these can damage the stems.
Why?
Cutting the stems with a sharp implement makes sure the cut is clean and the stem isn’t crushed, this aids water uptake. Cutting at an angle creates a larger opening at the base of the stem for more water uptake and stops them sitting flat in the vase.
Place Straight Into Water
Once your flowers have been cut, place loose stems or the wrapped bouquet immediately into your vase of water.
Why?
As water evaporates from leaves and the head it creates natural pressure which sucks up water. When the stems have been cut, get them back into your vase sooner rather than later as the stem will suck up surrounding air and dust which clogs the stems.
5. PLACE FLOWERS IN A SUITABLE LOCATION
Finding the perfect environment for your flowers will help them flourish for longer. Keep your flowers in a cool location away from sources of heat such as household appliances or radiators, direct sunlight such as windowsills and drafts from windows or doors.
Also: Keep your flowers away from any fruit or vegetables.
Why?
When cut flowers are subject to heat it causes them to release more water (transpire) than they can draw up the stem causing wilting to occur. That’s why wilting flowers are very moist at the head of the stem. Fruit releases ethylene gas as it ripens which poisons cut flowers causing wilting and browning.
6. CHECK REGULARLY
Use the Stems As a Handle
Try not to neglect your flowers for more than 2-3 days. Be sure to take them out the vase to change trim them. Use the stems as a handle to hold your flowers rather than the heads, human hands are warm and will make them dry.
Avoid Cloudy Water
Check the quality of your vase water, if it is slightly cloudy, change it for fresh water and repeat step 2.
Why?
No matter how meticulous you have been with your vase, flower food and cutting, bacteria will still form and attach to the end of your flower stems and discolour your water. This is the most frequent cause for a short vase life so keeping on top of this is key to long life flowers.
If the water is clear, top it up with tap water and remove any floating foliage with a clean spoon or fork, not your fingers.
Once your water is ready, repeat step 4 and cut the stems removing at least an inch from the bottom.
Why?
Cutting at least an inch from the bottom allows an otherwise clogged stem to reopen and take up much more water.
7. TAKE CARE WITH CHILDREN AND PETS
Some flowers can be harmful if consumed. The flowers/plant are for display only and must not be eaten.Lilies, both the petals and pollen, can be extremely toxic to cats. Care should be taken to keep all flowers and foliage out of the reach of children and pets.
