We just received a delivery at our home of funeral flowers for a family member who just passed away. The bouquet has a bunch of little packages of powdery stuff. Is it necessary to put this in the water for the flowers? It seems like extra work.

Whenever you buy a flower arrangement from 416-Florist.com for any occasion, you’ll notice that we include one or more small packets of a fine granular substance. Labelled as flower food, these do more than just provide sustenance for your fresh blooms – they also preserve their longevity so that you can enjoy their beauty longer.

Flower food does 3 important things:
1. Provides sugars for the flowers to feed on.
2. Those same sugars provide bacteria to feed on. This protects the stems since the bacteria have something else to eat rather than the stems.
3. Helps the stems absorb water more easily.

All flower food have a unique formula that combines sugar, chlorine and alum to create a fresh cut flower preservative. Other ingredients vary depending on the type of flower the food is designed for.

The funeral flower arrangement you’ve received was sent to commemorate the life of your loved one. Maintain its beauty by simply dissolving the flower food in the amount of water recommended (as stated on the back of the package) before placing your flower arrangement in the vase. It is worth the trouble.

Sometimes when you purchase flower bouquets, you don’t use them right away. You may have bought them to give away the next day, or have planned to use them much later in the day to decorate your home.  Whatever the reason, cut flower bouquets (not in vases or wet foam/sponge) that aren’t used as soon as you get them home should not be left bound together tightly, in cellophane wrapping. This is the way your Toronto florist packages the flowers so that they may be conveniently transported home, arranged in a visibly appealing manner that allows you to simply place them in a vase without much fuss. It is not the way you should store the flowers, since keeping them tied up in cellophane is one of the fastest ways to make your flower bouquet wilt.

1. As soon as you bring the bouquet home, unwrap the packaging it’s in and take off any ribbon, elastic band, or anything else that’s holding the flowers and greenery together. Just doing this frees the blooms, allowing them to get enough air.

If you plan on giving the flower bouquet to someone, remember to keep all of the packaging so that you can rewrap the flowers to present to your recipient. It’s a good idea to take a photo of the bouquet in its original condition so that you can arrange it again in the same manner at a later time.

2. Cut each flower stem and green garnish on an angle so that a larger surface area is exposed to water.

3. Trim leaves and foliage on the lower part of the stems.

4. Mix the flower food with fresh water in a clean vase or container, and place the flowers in it.

Now, the cut flowers have plenty of fresh water and air to survive longer, patiently waiting for you to use them!

We love the beauty of holiday flowers and gift baskets, but we also hate the fact that they may not last as long as we’d like. If you’ve received a flower arrangement or fruit and flower gift basket for the holidays already, you can do more than rely on luck that the gift will last until Christmas day – instead, follow these tips to help maintain the beauty of your floral arrangements for as long as possible.

1. One of the first things you should do as soon as you receive a bouquet or cut flower arrangement is to trim the stems, getting rid of any part that is dry or damaged. Use a sharp pair of scissors and submerging the stems in water, cut about 2 centimetres from each on a diagonal. It’s also important to remove any leaves or branches that would remain under water once you put the arrangement in the vase.

If the flowers are included with a gift basket, they can be left alone since they usually have a source of water attached to the stems. Just make sure the water level is high enough.

2. Make sure that the vase or container you put the flowers in is filled with fresh water, preferably much colder than room temperature. Change the water once a day, or more if it looks dirty.

3. Florists keep most of their stock in a walk-in fridge for a reason. Cut flowers stay fresher longer when kept in cooler temperatures. The environment should be at around 5 degrees Celsius (optimum temperatures vary for different flowers).

But come on, let’s be realistic. Nobody is going to keep their bouquet of flowers in the fridge. They’re meant to be displayed for the pleasure of the recipient.  A good way to maintain freshness without using the fridge is by placing arrangements out of direct sunlight or away from heat-producing objects, like appliances and vents.