The florist's 5 best tips for a sustainable flower bouquet

Always make sure the vase you chose for your bouquet is clean. Please wash it if it has been empty for a while, so that dust and any bacteria that can contaminate the water disappear. Choose a vase that fits the size of your bouquet, rather a little too big than too small. Pick off leaves that risk ending up below the surface of the water, otherwise they will cause bacteria that are harmful to the flowers. Keep the water clean by changing it every day. If you get flower nutrition with your bouquet, you can pour this into the water and just add more water afterwards. Change the water when it becomes discolored.

In the past, the recommendation has always been that the harder the stem is, the warmer the water it wants. Now more recent studies show that lukewarm or hot water quickly creates bacteria in the vase and thus deteriorates the water quality. Therefore, our new recommendation is to always have cold water regardless of the type of stem your bouquet has.

Before you put your flowers in water, you need to give them a new, slightly slanted, cut surface. Use a knife to cut the stems, scissors or secateurs will pinch the vessels and prevent the flowers from taking up water. The time without water has probably dried the cut surface a little and by cutting it again you help the stem absorb the oxygen and nutrients from the water. Also take care to cut the stems to a length that fits the vase you have chosen.

Please leave the vase with the flowers in a bright place but not in direct sunlight, drafts or too close to a hot element. Also avoid placing the flowers near a fruit bowl or the Christmas tree because they emit ethylene gas which causes the flowers to wither faster. Most cut flowers thrive in a temperature around 18–22 degrees. Feel free to place your bouquet cooler at night so they last even better and you can enjoy them for longer.

First, cut new cut surfaces on the daffodils and let them stand in their own water for an hour. Then they secrete the secretion that clogs the pores of other flowers and causes them to wither. After this, you can freely mix them with other flowers and create a beautiful bouquet. Remember that you should not make new cut surfaces on the daffodils.

Have you received or bought a tied bouquet? Do not remove the tape. The bouquet is tied in a way that gives it a beautiful shape and that each flower gets its due in the best way. An airy tied bouquet has a shorter lifespan than a more compact ditto because the oxygen causes it to wither faster.

When you send flowers with us, we want the recipient to be able to enjoy the flowers for as long as possible. Therefore, sometimes the flowers are delivered a little budded and not fully opened.