Ways To Take Care Of Flowers!

Flower Care 101

Nothing is ever as exciting as getting flowers delivered to you, no matter if it’s a gift from a loved one or something that you bought as a treat! But now that you’ve received a bouquet, we’re sure you’d like to keep it pristine for as long as you can. Even if you’re not with a green thumb, we can assure you that flower care is for everyone. All it takes is a little love and attention!

Here at Flower Chimp, we’ve received many questions from our customers regarding ways onhow to keep flower bouquets fresh. Well, good news! We’ve compiled some of the best tips and tricks on bouquet care so that you’ll be able to enjoy it while it lasts. Read along for ourflowers 101 tips, and maybe order yourself a bouquet after this to practice!

Trim the stems

The first thing that you would want to do after receiving your bouquet is trim its stems. Flowers are usually shipped dry, so your blooms might be dehydrated by the time it reaches you or your recipient. To maximise your bouquet’s freshness, you would need to make sure that it gets enough water, and cutting its browned stems is one way to make sure that it can absorb water without hiccups. 

So, how do you properly cut the stems, you ask? Easy! With a sharp kitchen shear or sterile knife, cut off 2 centimetres of stem from the flowers in your bouquet at a 45° angle. You can do this under running water to reduce the risk of air pockets and allow the flower to absorb water as soon as its stem is cut. Repeat this step every day whenever you see the stems are decaying in their shade of brown, and you’ll have fresh flowers for days! 

Use clean vases

Thinking of chucking the flowers into a vase after you unwrap it? Be sure to check if the vase is clean first as a dirty one will do your flowers, well, dirty! By now you’ll know that well-hydrated flowers last longer, so clean your vase before you place your flowers in to make sure that your water won’t be contaminated with unwanted bacteria. 

Plus, a clean vase will make your flowers more insta-worthy! Won’t you agree with us on that one?

Replenish and replace the water every 2-3 days

Depending on what flowers you have, it is not uncommon to see your bouquet completely drink up the water in your vase within two days of receiving it. To avoid your flowers being dry and wilted, replenish your water in the vase whenever you see its level dip and keep it full at all times. We also recommend changing the vase water completely every 2-3 days (even if you have not used up the water completely) to make sure that the water is not infested with bacteria. Clean water also gets rid of the horrid smell that flowers may emit after sitting in the same water for too long. 

You can drain your vase off its water by tilting it slightly while holding the flowers. This way, you get to keep its original arrangement and have it fresher for longer!

Keep your bouquet within indirect light

You might think that your newly-arrived bouquet would love all the sunlight it can get, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! As your fresh flowers are now at the peak of their life, having them bask in the sunlight will make them “mature” faster, hence making them wilt sooner than you can say "Oops!".

Instead, place your vase with your fresh flowers in a cool, shaded area in your house. This will keep them fresher for longer so that you’d be able to enjoy them more!

Remove wilting flowers & leaves 

If there’s one thing to do for your live plants and flowers, it is to prune them regularly! Do a little housekeeping whenever you have a bouquet in your house: remove all the wilted leaves and flowers so that they won’t grow any bacteria or mold that can affect the other blooms. Always bear in mind to remove leaves that are below the vase water level, so that they will not contaminate the vase water with bacteria. 

While this won’t extend the freshness of your flowers, at least they will look better for your home!

Keep it away from ripening fruits and vegetables

While having your bouquet sitting on the kitchen table together with your fruits might make for a good look, it is actually more detrimental to your flowers than you think. Ripening fruits and vegetables emit an odourless gas called ethylene that can do more harm than good to your flowers. As this gas also regulates the ripening of other fruits and plants, your flowers will then be influenced to produce their own ethylene and then go through rapid ageing.

So, let your flowers sit on their own within its majesties without any fruits and vegetables in sight, and you’d be enjoying them for more time!

Now, we know what the eventual truth is - our fresh flowers will wilt and drop over time. But with these tips and tricks, hopefully, your lovely bouquet will be even more long-lasting and beautiful. Bouquets can truly bring life to a room, so having them grace your spaces for a while longer will cheer up your days to come.

If you’re looking to surprise someone with a flower bouquet, you’ve come to the right place! Flower Chimp Hong Kong offers stunning flower bouquets that are all made according to life’s occasions, so we’re sure you’d be spoilt for choice when it comes to floral gifting. On top of that, we also offer same-day delivery for all orders made before 1PM, so shop for your next gift for your special someone today! 

If you're Down Under in Australia, head on to Bloomeroo. You'll find the finest selection of fresh flowers in Perth or in Brisbane with same-day delivery today.