Posts by Laura Kenny

Home Remedies There are many home remedies to preserve flowers and help them stay fresher for longer. Some work but, most do nothing and can be in fact harmful to the flowers. Flower food or a commercial floral preservative is readily available on the market, inexpensive and far superior to any home remedy. The solution…

Storage Conditions There are a number of factors that can impact a flower shelf life. One being storage; where will the flowers be stored during the conditioning? Cut flowers will fade at a faster rate if the capillary system inside the cut flower (known as the xylem) gets clogged up with air, bacteria or direct…

Cleanliness One of the most important factors when conditioning flowers, is making sure that you buckets are clean! Bacteria, fungi and plant debris in vase water can block the flowers stems and prevent water uptake. The bacteria can grow rapidly in a vase of water, so it is important to clean the buckets and vase…

Foraging Flower Care There is certainly no greater thrill or satisfaction than making your own flower arrangements using flowers that you have grown in your own garden. The same basic care and handling techniques apply to foraged flowers and greenery from your garden as they do too commercially grown flowers. Plus, a few extras to…

Ethylene Gas Flowers and fruit combine perfectly in a floral arrangement, however the combination drastically shortens the flower life. While the combination looks aesthetically pleasing, the pairing can be fatal for some flowers. Why ? The culprit is ethylene. What is Ethylene Gas? Ethylene is an odourless, colourless gaseous plant hormone that exists in nature.…

Water Quality Cut flowers require clean, fresh water in the conditioning process. It is said that the water quality is an essential factor that is often overlooked and this can influence the shelf life of your flowers. For example, drinking water contains high level of minerals. These dissolved minerals will block the flower stems and…