Floral Conditioning
Floral Conditioning:
Preparing your flowers as well as you can to ensure they last as long as possible.
Remove any unnecessary foliage, especially any bits that lie under the water line. Leaves left in the water will create a lot of bacteria, turning the water an unpleasant dirty colour. Removing foliage also ensures that the water goes to the flowers rather than the leaves.
Flowers bought from a florist should come conditioned. When you get them home, re-cut them about 1cm from the end of the stems and give them a drink for about an hour before arranging, if possible. Always cut stems on a diagonal with secateurs, floral scissors or a sharp knife.
Imported flowers will have been picked and then immediately packaged — they won’t have been conditioned at all. Cut the ends off, remove all leaves that will lie under the water line and give them a nice long, cool drink for an hour or so before arranging.
For home-grown and foraged flowers, remove all unwanted leaves, cut the ends and give a long cooling drink for as long as possible before arranging, preferably for more than an hour or so. When you are picking your own home-grown flowers, get them into water as soon as you can. Ideally, pick in the early morning, not in the heat of the sun. If you can, put them into a bucket of lukewarm water, in the dark, plunged up to their necks, overnight. This will give them the best start.
Condition hollow-stemmed flowers like delphiniums, amaryllis and lupins by turning them upside down, filling the stem with water and then stuffing with cotton wool. If you don’t have cotton wool, keep your thumb over the end and don’t let go until the stem is under water.
In the past people have suggested bashing or hammering woody stems e.g. lilac, Guelder rose and roses — but current thinking is that this may do more harm than good as it may increase the rate of bacterial infection and also damage the vascular system of the branch, restricting water intake.
We prefer to make a vertical cut of around 5cm upwards from the base of the woody stems.
Flowers that are prone to drooping, such as hellebores, euphorbia and poppies, can be seared before arranging. Dip the end of the stems, about 2cm or 10 per cent of the length of the flower stem, into very hot water (just off the boil). Be careful to keep the steam away from the petals, either cup your hands round them or wrap them carefully in newspaper or a paper towel.
If flowers such as roses droop they can be revived by re-cutting the ends of the stems and searing in the same way as above.
Be very careful when handling flowers such as Euphoria. It has a toxic sap so wear gloves and avoid getting it in your eyes at all costs. You can sear the end of the stem by holding it over a flame to cauterise it and stop the sap flowing.
Our favourite tip for reviving hydrangeas is to plunge them headfirst into a bucket of cool water and leave for as long as possible. Overnight is most ideal.
Flowers such as peonies are very thirsty creatures and will need their vase topped up with water every day. To condition them, float them in deep water overnight. They can drink from their petals so the more of the flower that’s in contact with water, the better. This should work to revive wilting ones too.
Try not to place your cut flowers in direct sunlight, in a draught area, or near a heat source e.g. fireplace or radiator. They like to be kept in as cool a room as possible — unless they’re tropical, like orchids, proteas or strelitzia, then they prefer a little more warmth and humidity.
One exception to the rules of conditioning is if you are trying to force flowers to bloom. In that case sitting them near a radiator, a cooker or in sunlight will work wonders.