Fill in the blank (_) in the following sentence from the following choices.
Sentence: The florist cut the stems off of the flowers to fit inside the vases because the _  were short.

Choice 1: The florist cut the stems off of the flowers to fit inside the vases because the vases  were short.
Choice 2: The florist cut the stems off of the flowers to fit inside the vases because the stems  were short.
Which of the choices is correct? Respond with only "1" or "2" and no additional text.
1
2.