1.
At the florist's, take a good look at how ripe a flower is. The buds should already show some colour. Check if they are fresh. Don't buy flowers with yellow or wilting leaves.
2.
Before doing anything with your flowers, place them – wrapper and all – in clean water for a couple of hours.
3.
Using a sharp knife, trim a piece from each stem at an angle so the flower can easily take up water. You can also use sharp pruning shears on woody stem flowers. It's not a good idea to break or flatten any stems.
4.
Remove any leaves that would be below the water line , so there are no leaves in the water.
5.
Add the cut flower food that comes with the flowers. This food contains a preservative that helps prevent bacteria from growing too fast in the water so your flowers will stay fresh for longer.
6.
Place the flowers in a spotlessly clean vase with fresh tap water. Glass vases are the best choice, as they are the easiest to clean. And you can clearly see when you need to add water.
7.
Don't let flowers stand in a draft, direct sunlight or near any heat sources. And don't place your flowers near your fruit bowl as fruit produces ethylene, an organic gas that causes flowers to age quickly.
8.
There is special shrub food for viburnum, lilacs and other forced shrubs (shrubs that are made to blossom early). Just ask your florist.
9.
After trimming their stems, daffodils should be left alone in their vase to ooze slime for one day before you arrange them with other flowers.
10.
Check water levels every day – some flowers can be really thirsty.