How To Revive Wilting Flowers

Flowers are the most inexpensive way of making the house look beautiful to anyone. They are also the perfect first time gift for anyone, from a prospective mother in law, a hurt girlfriend or even an ailing grandmother or a boss who has just got married. However, like most naturally occurring beautiful things (except gold!), they are highly perishable and begin to wilt quickly. When that happens, they turn soggy and messy and even begin to stink in some cases, which also mean that the whole purpose of keeping them at home or gifting them would be defeated. It is when they begin to wilt that one begins to think as to why they are considered such an item of beauty when they do not last more than a few days and always leave behind a mess. The problem is most of us forget to change the water in the vase we store them or keep the vase close to unwrapped fruits and vegetables, which produces ethylene, a chemical responsible for shortening the life of flowers. In addition, we do not cut off about an inch of the stem of flowers when restoring them, which only serves to decrease their life. However, here are some tips about how to revive wilting flowers.

 

Preserve It Right 

For this method, you will need floral preservative, a sharp knife and a vase or any similar container. Fill your container with warm water at about 45 degrees centigrade and add floral preservative to it. Next, hold each flower by its stem under lukewarm running water. With a sharp knife or shears, cut the stem at an angle of about 45 degrees, while the stem is still kept under the running lukewarm water. In the meantime, remove any leaves inside the vase and immediately set the stem of the flower into the container with warm water and preservative. Place the re-cut flowers in a cool spot for about an hour or so, after which you will need to move them to a place that is out of direct sunlight and away from both cold and hot sources. Remember also to keep the flowers well away from unwrapped fruits and vegetables—they produce ethylene, which will shorten the life of the flowers. Add water with preservative into the vase as the levels keep going down, and change the water every two to three days.

 

Easy And Quick 

Many of us may not have access to floral preservative or it may be too expensive for us. For those who cannot find or afford a floral preservative, here’s is a simple and easy way to revive wilting flowers. For this method, all one needs is household detergent and tepid water. Remove all the flowers from the vase temporarily and clean the vase out if needed. To a container full of tepid water add a tablespoon or so of household detergent. Fill the vase with this mixture and return the flowers to the vase.

 

Some Tips 

Here are some tips to increase the life of cut flowers at your home: