When choosing a bouquet as a gift, many people are guided by how long certain flowers can stand in a vase. It should be noted that with proper care, almost any flower can live in a vase for several weeks.
How to make flowers last longer?
The most persistent flowers are carnations, alstroemeria, chrysanthemums and orchids. They can stand in a vase for two to three weeks without special care, their life can be significantly extended if you follow a few simple rules. However, the same rules apply to any other flowers.
The cause of the wilting of flowers is the appearance of bacteria in the water. Therefore, the most important condition for a long "life" of flowers is the purity of the vase and water. There are special powders that are used by professional florists for disinfection; at home they can be replaced with ordinary bleach.
Before you put the flowers in the vase, wash it thoroughly with bleach, it does not have a pleasant smell, unlike special powders, but provides the bouquet with a long life. By the way, a frequent change of water in the vase will allow the bouquet to stand much longer, it is advisable to treat the vase with bleach during each change of water.
You can add a little potassium permanganate (a few crystals), aspirin (at the rate of 1 tablet per liter of water) or a little citric acid to the water. Water with such additives can be changed every 2-4 days.
Color matching
When choosing a bouquet of different types of flowers, it should be borne in mind that not all flowers are compatible. Some plants cannot be placed in one vase, since metabolic products and phytoncides of some flowers are toxic to others. For example, roses always contribute to the wilting of other flowers, and burgundy roses have a detrimental effect on tea ones.
Carnations and roses mutually destroy each other in the shortest possible time. Daffodils and lilies in the presence of other flowers die in a matter of days, and yellow primroses and sweet peas, which are often added for the beauty and splendor of the bouquet, negatively affect all flowers, except for tulips and lilacs. At the same time, tulips, lilacs and forget-me-nots die if you put lilies of the valley in a vase with them.
Some flowers and plants can lengthen each other's lives. For example, a twig of a thuja can preserve the freshness of roses and lilies, and this plant doubles the life of tulips. It's all about the stimulating effect of the substances that thuja secretes.
Any bouquet will live longer if you protect it from drafts, direct sunlight and the proximity of heating devices, since all these factors accelerate the loss of moisture, which is why even freshly cut flowers wither.
