Cutting Flowers

Making cut flowers last longer:

1. Cut flowers early in the morning.

2. Cut stems at a slant. Use a pair of sharp scissors, not pruning clippers.

3. Immediately after cutting put stems in a bucket of water.

4. Once you have brought the cut flowers indoors, strip away foliage on the part of the stem that will be underwater in your display vase.

5. Recut stems UNDER WATER. Remember to cut at an angle again.

6. Immediately after recutting stems, transfer to vase. Water should be halfway up stems. Some flowers rot quickly. change water often. Commercial preservatives work well. Adding a few copper pennies to a vase of tulips will help them stand erect and not droop, and will prolong their vase life.