Flowers are a sweet addition to any home, and making your flowers last longer is something that we wish we could all do. To make your flowers last a little longer when you first get them you should be cutting the stems about half an inch up. Cutting the stems just a bit when you first get them with a sharp knife or a sharp pair of scissors is going to allow the plant to absorb more water when it needs it most. Sometimes if you don’t cut off the stems you will find that the flowers are going to die off faster as they can’t absorb the water they need as fast.
Flowers often will absorb too much water become droopy and the petals will fall off. The plant wants to continue drinking more and more water until the plant just can’t hold any more. To solve this problem and to keep flowers fresh, making a tiny incision or nick below the flower head is going to allow some of that extra water to fall from the flower and to keep the water in the stem and in the flower fresh preventing the head from getting too droopy or over watered.
The vase that you use for the fresh flowers, or cut greenery should be cleaned well. If you happen to use soap or bleach be sure you rinse out the vase until it is really clean without trace residue from either of these items. The water you use for the flowers should not be treated or have chemicals in it. Bottled water is best in you live in town where chlorine is added to your water. Hard water, acid water and water that has been treated with salt can be difficult for a plant to soak up and thrive with.
To keep your flowers fresh and thriving, change the water daily. Add a few drops of lemon juice, or a sprinkle of baking soda, or a few drops of club soda. Remember to keep the additions to the water in small amounts and to mix it thoroughly in with the water before putting the flowers into the vase.
If you are more interested in plants that will flower or just add a good bit of color to your home houseplants are a wonderful way to do this and often you don’t have to spend too much time working with them.
Some of the easiest plants to care for are going to be vines, spikes, small trees and plants that don’t require repotting to often. Look for tags on plants that show you how much sunlight that particular plant needs, and if it will fit where you have sunlight or the shade required in your home.
A rubber plant is an easy to care for plant, one that will thrive in dim light and somewhere that is not too hot. You can keep this plant in a basement, a hallway or in a bedroom where you don’t have a lot of sunlight. When the plant does get a lot of light say in the summer months, it will grow and thrive, but during the winter it will become a little more dormant but will not die off as easy as some other houseplants.
Continued >> on the next page
