How To Check If Cut Flowers Are Fresh
Fresh flowers should feel crisp or firm. Before you buy, run your hand under the flower heads from stem to petal tip. Proceed gently under the petals so as not to bruise them.
If the flower vendor objects, give them a withering look and enquire in a loud voice, "Are these flowers fresh?"
If the flowers feel soft, cool or damp, don't buy them.
Keep testing the other bunches until you find a good one. Often there are only one or two bunches older than the others. Look and listen. Really fresh flowers will make a soft rustling sound as you stroke them.
As flowers age:
- the foliage will start to yellow from the bottom upwards
- the stems will discolor from the bottom up as bacteria spreads from the cut
- seeds or pollen on the flower head will open and shed spores
- the petals will fade in colour, lose moisture, dehydrate and eventually collapse
Remember: It's your money and you want the best value for it. As a consumer you have a right to examine an item before you buy, and this is especially important for anything perishable.
Once you get your fresh flowers home, remember to change the water daily, recut the stems often and enjoy your flowers longer.
Gerry Belvedere is a former artist who now runs her own online florist service at http://www.rosaflora-flowers.com Rosaflora delivers flowers Australia wide and overseas and offers tips on getting the most out of your cut flowers.
Latest News
Sign up for landscaping, garden classes now Mirror, MI - Michael Saint, a certified master gardener and owner of Good Earth landscape Institute, will show you how to turn a neglected entrance, courtyard or side ... |
Green Thumb: White House garden exhibit comes to Collierville Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN - The lecture series includes: Wednesday, 11 am -- Landscaping for Small Spaces with garden designer Tom Pellett. Jan. 22, 11 am -- The Bee Friendly Garden ... |
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds San Jose Mercury News, USA - Everything from design, home improvement, décor, home entertainment, landscaping, gardening, and much, much more will be on display at this event. ... Seeds: Budding gardeners can take home a seedling |
Gardening angel spruces up shop Contra Costa Times, CA - That could have happened here, but thanks to a gardening angel, it didn't. Mitchell wrote to Kevin Davis of CLS Landscape Management Inc. in Chino and told ... |
Gardening: Florida’s snowfall weed Marconews, FL - Eileen Ward and her husband, Peter, own and operate Greensward of Marco Inc., a lawn maintenance and landscaping company. Besides completing horticultural ... |
Not your run-of-the-mill garden-variety dispute Naperville Sun, IL - Option 1A calls for the development of two multi-purpose athletic fields, parking, landscaping and trail areas in the southern portion of the West Street ... |
In the Garden: Resolutions for a gardening year Peninsula Gateway, WA - 30 for a seminar at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show (www.otshows.com/THS), “Edible landscaping with veggies and herbs.” In garden design, I see more yards ... |
Green stuff San Francisco Chronicle, USA - Aerin Moore discusses "How to Create a Beautiful Garden: Landscaping Techniques." 1 pm Tues. Public Safety Bldg., Alex Clark Room, 880 Tennent Ave., Pinole. ... |
Gardening Calendar, updated Jan 7 TCPalm, FL - "Florida Native Landscaping": University of Florida/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center; 2199 S. Rock Road, Fort Pierce; 4-7 pm, ... |
Horrocks honored for hitting the half-century benchmark Sentinel-Standard, MI - John Horrocks' farm specialized in travel gardening, but with Jack Horrocks creating the new business, the garden operation became a landscaping and nursery ... |
Resources
-
Sorry there are no resources available at this time