How to Make Your Mother’s Day Flowers Last Longer

Have you been given a beautiful bunch of flowers this Mother’s Day? How you care for your cut flowers can make a huge difference to how long they last. Here are 7 clever tips to make sure your Mother’s Day bouquet lasts for longer.

Choose a ceramic or metal vase or container for your flowers such as our Flower Pots or Flower Jars. It will help keep the stems cooler and slow down the growth of bacteria which will help the flowers stay fresher for longer.
Make sure the vase is spotlessly clean. Many washing up liquids and dish washer tablets can leave behind a residue. So, we suggest cleaning your vase with vinegar or lemon juice and then rinsing well to help your flowers last.
Fill your vase with water and then add cut flower food - you can also make your own DIY cut flower food using this recipe. Each of our bouquets comes with two biodegradable sachets of cut flower food.
Remove any leaves that will sit below the water line. If you are buying one of our Mother’s Day Bouquets the florists on our sustainable English farm will have removed most or all of the lower leaves. But it’s worth checking, as the depth of water varies from vase to vase.
Our Mother’s Day Bouquets are delivered in a fresh bag. To help your flowers last longer we suggest trimming the stems at a 45-degree angle using secateurs or sharp scissors, then placing the bouquet in water as soon as you can. The stems of cut flowers soon start to seal so it is always worth trimming the stems when the flowers first arrive and again, every couple of days or so, to allow the flowers to drink up the water and stay fresher for longer. Cutting the stems at an angle creates a larger surface area for the flowers to absorb water through.
To help your flowers last even longer choose a place, out of direct sunlight away from radiators and the fruit bowl, to help prolong the life of your bouquet. Fruit such as bananas, apples and tomatoes produce high levels of ethylene that can promote ethylene production in cut flowers, causing them to go over more quickly.
Refresh the water and re-trim the stems every couple of days to keep your beautiful bouquet alive for longer.

If you have not ordered flowers for Mother’s Day yet you can discover our collection of scented and sustainable Mother’s Day bouquets here.