Receiving flowers is a joy all on its own. There’s a rush of appreciation and for a few precious moments you feel like a princess. You take a thousand photographs in about 300 different angles and then what? They rot, they die, and you forget all about them.
People have always told me to keep my flowers in a vase whenever I receive them, but I’ve never been told exactly how. I remove the wrapper, attempt to untangle the mess of cellotape and cotton the florist cleverly hid beneath coloured tissue paper and cut the stem, put the flowers in water, but yet, they don’t seem to last very long.
After scouring the Internet I found a really informative guide here.
In a nutshell,
1. Wash the vase you’re going to use and fill it up with lukewarm water. Different websites say different things about what to put in the water. Some suggested dissolving one aspirin pill, or even putting a copper coin. This website quotes a few recipes like 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon liquid bleach (Clorox), and 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice mixed in 2 quarts of lukewarm water.
2. Then of course, there’s the obvious stem cutting. When cutting the stems, keep the whole bottom of the stem submerged in water to prevent air bubbles (which will apparently hinder water absorption) and cut it underwater. After that, immediately transfer the flowers to the vase. This is important because roses need a lot of water.
3. Add more water daily to keep the level high. If you can, it's a good idea to change the water every fourth day, replacing the old water with fresh.
According to this method, even slightly wilted roses with bent necks can be revived again! I actually have proof because my formerly flaccid rose stem was a lot firmer once I replaced the water.
What these guides don’t tell you though is what to do once your flowers have wilted completely. Rather than throw them away, how about preserve them by drying? Dried roses have their own charm with their deep maroon petals and withered leaves.
My sister actually taught me how to do this and the dried flowers shown here are hers.
In a hot sunny environment, hang the flowers upside down to keep them upright.
She tied them together with rubber bands and then hung them on a hook by the balcony, but feel free to hang them wherever there’s sun!
Enjoy!