Fresh flowers are a small luxury, and with a little care they can stay beautiful for many days. Jaipur's warm, dry weather is hard on cut flowers, so these simple habits make a real difference.
Give them a fresh start
When your flowers arrive, take them out of the box or wrapping as soon as you can. Fill a clean vase with room-temperature water — a vase rinsed with a drop of soap is best, because bacteria in old water is the biggest reason flowers wilt early.
Trim the stems at an angle
Using sharp scissors or a knife, cut about 2 cm off each stem at a slant. The angled cut gives the stem more surface to drink from and stops it sitting flat on the bottom of the vase. Trim again every two or three days.
Remove leaves below the water line
Any leaf that sits in the water will soften and cloud it. Strip those leaves away and keep only the ones above the rim.
Change the water every two days
Top up daily and replace the water completely every two days. In summer, when rooms get warm, change it every day.
Choose a cool, calm spot
Keep your flowers away from direct sunlight, air-conditioner vents, heaters and kitchen stoves. Keep them away from fruit bowls too — ripening fruit releases ethylene, a natural gas that makes flowers age faster.
Flower by flower
Roses love a deep drink and a fresh cut every other day; if a head droops, re-cut the stem and place it in lukewarm water for an hour. Gerberas prefer shallow water, so their soft stems don't turn mushy. Chrysanthemums, gypsophila and limonium are naturally long-lasting — limonium even dries beautifully, so you can keep it long after the rest of the bouquet has faded.
Keeping your box arrangements fresh
If your box arrangement sits in floral foam, gently pour a little water into the foam every day until it feels damp, without flooding the box. If the stems sit in water, top it up daily.
With these small rituals, your flowers will keep saying what you wanted them to say for as long as possible.
