When it comes to cut flowers, there’s no denying the beauty they bring to our homes. From luscious roses to delicate daffodils, a bouquet of freshly cut flowers can bring a room to life. But to keep these blooms looking as lovely as possible for as long as possible, there are some tips and tricks to keep in mind.

The worst thing you can do it bring flowers home, put them in a vase and then forget them.

For maximum time with each bouquet, you need to spend as little as a couple minutes, every 2-3 days, to ensure your flowers live as long as possible. And what you need to do couldn’t be any easier: just clean and recut the stems.

Aways Start With A Sterilized Vase

I always have two “standard” vases. One in use and one that I run through the dishwasher. This makes it quick and easy to do a vase refresh.

Before you go about cutting and arranging, it’s important to make sure your vase is clean. You can use a chlorine bleach solution, hot tap water and soap, or the dishwasher (like I do). This is key, as bacteria and fungi can cause the flowers to wilt prematurely.

Trim (And Re-Trim) The Stem

Once your vase is sterilized, it’s time to cut the stem. This is the one step that must never be skipped to ensure your flowers live longer in a vase. Why? Because the stem can easily become clogged and without a clear pathway in the stem, no amount of fresh water or flower food will help because the flowers won’t be able to take it in!

The best way to trim a stem is to use a sharp knife or pruning shears to cut the stem at an angle. Why cut at an angle? You are trying to give the stem maximum contact with the water so it can absorb more water, resulting in longer lasting blooms.

Trim The Lower Leaves

Before putting them in the vase, it’s important to strip off any leaves that are below the waterline.

My advice is not to fill the vase too full. Too much water can break down the stems and shortens the life of the flowers. By only submerging the flowers in a couple inches of water I ensure the stems stay fresh and viable to uptake water longer.

Why is it important for the leaves to not touch the water?  The leaves can transfer bacteria to the water. That bacteria will attack the flowers breaking down the stems and making the flower die prematurely.

Repeat Every Other Day

To ensure that your flowers stay fresh, it’s important to re-cut the stems every other day and replace the water in the vase when you are retrimming. If you can use filtered water, I’ve found you can do this every 3 or 4 days with excellent results. But if you are using tap water, you will need to address the flowers more often (every 2 days is usually fine but if you have hard water you might want to consider this maintenance more often). This means cutting off a few inches at the bottom and then re-cutting the stem at an angle. This will ensure that the stem has the best chance of absorbing fresh water. Hard tap water can clog the stems and that is why you have to maintain the flowers more often.

Pro Tip: Add Flower Food

Flower food is one of the best ways to keep your flowers looking as vibrant as possible for as long as possible. Just like you would feel faint and listless without food or water, so do your flowers. Flower food helps to provide the flowers with the necessary nutrients that are often missing from tap water.

Remember to trim the stems when you place water and you can be guaranteed how to increase vase life of cut flowers. They will be able to take in water and nutrients and that will extend the life of cut flowers to provide a better bargain for your flower dollar.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your scissors and make your cut flowers something you are proud of!