The "right way" can be rather involved. Properly cared for, cut tulips can stay fresh for seven to ten days, even continuing to grow up to an inch or more. So, what's the secret? Leonard Perry from the University of Vermont has a few tips.
First, recut the stems - diagonally, removing about a half inch of stem. Hmm, is that half inch with the diagonal or without? One-half inch is quite short!
Now, rewrap the bouquet in paper, with a few inches of stems sticking out. This goes into water for about an hour or two, with the paper above the water line. Why is this? My guess is that this rehydrates the stem so that later on, when you add floral preservative, it doesn't all get trapped at the bottom. If you just came back from the store, you are probably ok. I just did so I'm going to skip this step. The paper is probably for keeping the flowers from drying up.
If you did the soak, recut the stems to the desired length, again diagonally. Fill a vase with water and floral preservative. That's it.
Posted by torque at October 2, 2004 3:55 PM | TrackBack