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Care of Cut Flowers

Flowers cut for indoor display will last longer and will be more attractive if you are careful about the way you handle them.

It's best to cut flowers in the early morning or evening when the stems, leaves and petals are full of water. The plants contain less water during mid-day. If you cut them then, they will bruise easily and will not last long in arrangement.

Blooms will last longer if you cut them before they are fully open. Many flowers, zinnias for example, soon drop their petals if you harvest them wide open.

Leave at least 2 leaves on the stem below the cut. Many plants will develop new shoots from buds where the leaves join the stem. The more leaves that remain on a plant after its blossoms are cut, the greater its ability to produce more flowers.

One exception to this rule is delphinium (del-FIN-ee-um). You can cut it to the ground after you harvest the flowers, and the plant will rebloom in fall.

Put flowers in a bucket of warm water for several hours immediately after cutting. This conditioning ensures the blossoms will be in good condition and will not wilt or shatter.

Remove leaves that are below the water line in the final arrangement.

To cut down on floral arrangement maintenance, add a commercial cut flower preservative to both the conditioning and arranging water. Replace water used by the blossoms.

If you do not use a preservative, change the water and recut the stem bases.

If you have further questions, please contact your local county extension office for further information.

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For More Information Contact your North Dakota County Extension Office of the NDSU Extension Service for additional information or see our main NDSU Web Page for publications and articles on Agriculture, Horticulture, Youth and Family, Business and Community and Food and Nutrition at  http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/