If you’ve received a lovely bouquet, hand-tied bouquet, arrangement, or aqua pack, this is your go to guide of top tips on how to get the most out of your gift.
With all cut flowers, they’ll last longer if they’re in a cool place away from a draft or a heat source. Try not to place them in direct sunlight or in front of a window as this can cause them to deteriorate quicker. Also, keep them away from the fruit bowl!
How to identify your arrangement:
- A bouquet will be arranged flat in cellophane or paper
- Hand-tied and aqua pack arrangements stand up by themselves - but crucially, the aqua pack has its own pouch of fresh water
- Arrangements come in a variety of containers and trays and include a green block of Oasis foam
Bouquet tips
If your bouquet is delivered to you at work or given to you while you’re not at home, the best thing to do is to pop it in a glass of water or wrap the ends of the stems in damp tissue paper. This will help keep them fresh until you get home.
Once you’re home, or if you’re already at home, the first thing to do is to trim the stems. You’ll want to do this at an angle (because it creates a bigger surface area to drink up fresh water) and cut about 2cm up from the bottom.
Fill up a clean vase with lukewarm water, and include the flower food that is attached to your bouquet. If it’s a small vase you can use half of the packet and pop a clip across the top and save it for when you change the water in a couple of days. It’s important that the vase is clean to avoid any bacteria.
You can keep the flowers in their cellophane if you wish, or you can open up the arrangement and place them in the vase yourself. Remove any leaves that end up below the waterline. Change the water whenever it looks cloudy after the second day (and top up the flower food if you’ve kept some spare!) and remove anything that is wilting.
Hand-tied & aqua pack tips
A hand-tied arrangement can be treated much the same as a bouquet, because the stems are free you can give them a snip and place them in a clean vase. However, it’s best to keep the arrangement tied together.
If your hand-tied arrangement has an aquapack (a cellophane pouch filled with water), you can leave it in this pouch for about 48 hours. Once it’s time to change the water, snip the pouch open over a sink and trim off the excess cellophane. As with the hand-tied arrangements, you’ll want to keep the flowers tied together. Once the cello is removed, pop your flowers into a clean vase with lukewarm water.
Arrangement tips
You’ll see inside the container or tray of your arrangement, there is a block of green Oasis floral foam. This is what is keeping your flowers nice and hydrated so keep the container topped up with water and remove flowers as they fade. As with other fresh flower arrangements, a cool room away from direct sunlight and any draft will help keep your blooms in tip top condition.
If you have any questions at all about caring for your fresh flowers, please don’t hesitate to call our talented team in the shop on 01722 329152.