How to make cut flowers last longer: a florist-style care routine

To make a bouquet last, re-cut every stem on an angle as soon as it arrives, strip any leaves that would sit under water, and put it in a clean vase with fresh, cool water and the flower food that came with it. Then change the water every two days, re-trimming the stems as you go, and keep the vase out of sun, away from heaters and away from the fruit bowl.

The first ten minutes matter most

• Unwrap straight away. Flowers sitting in a sleeve on a bench are drinking nothing.
• Re-cut each stem by a couple of centimetres on a sharp angle, with a sharp knife or secateurs. A clean angled cut gives a bigger surface to drink through and stops the stem sitting flat on the vase floor.
• Strip every leaf that would sit below the waterline. Leaves rot in water, and rotting water is what kills a bouquet early.
• Use a properly clean vase — washed with hot soapy water, not just rinsed.
• Fill with cool, fresh tap water and add the sachet of flower food if one came with the bouquet.

Every couple of days

• Tip out the water, rinse the vase, refill fresh. Cloudy water is a sign you've left it too long.
• Re-trim the stems a centimetre or so. The cut ends seal over time.
• Pull out anything that has finished. One rotting stem shortens the life of the rest.

Where to put the vase

Somewhere cool and out of direct sun. Not on a sunny windowsill, not next to a heat pump or heater, and not near the fruit bowl: ripening fruit gives off ethylene gas, which makes many flowers age and drop faster. In summer, moving the vase to the coolest room overnight buys extra days.

Flower by flower

• Roses — remove the outer "guard" petals if they're bruised, and re-cut under water if heads start to droop.
• Tulips — keep growing in the vase and bend toward light. Use a tall vase and less water.
• Hydrangeas — drink through their heads as well as stems; a mist or a brief dunk revives a wilting head.
• Lilies — pull the orange pollen anthers off as the flowers open; the pollen stains cloth and is toxic to cats.
• Daffodils — release sap that shortens other flowers' lives; condition them in their own water for a few hours first.
• Natives (proteas, leucadendrons) — very long-lasting; just keep the water topped up.

Do sugar, aspirin or a coin help?

The sachet of flower food that comes with a bouquet is the reliable option: it feeds the flowers and slows the bacteria in the water. Home remedies are hit and miss, and sugar on its own can feed bacteria as much as the flowers. If you've run out of sachets, clean water changed often does most of the work.

How long should a bouquet last?

It depends on what's in it and how fresh it was when it arrived. Flowers in season and grown locally generally outlast imported stems, which have already spent days in transit — one reason to ask for the florist's seasonal choice. What's in season in NZ covers when. If a bouquet from a florist wilts within a day or two despite good care, tell the florist; most will want to know.