HINTS FOR SAVING THE LIFE OF CUT FLOWERS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 205, 15 September 1937, Page 11

HINTS FOR SAVING THE LIFE OF CUT FLOWERS

Flowers need not represenfc a great household expense, because the oheapest varieties are often the most cliarmmg and effective. Moreover, a little care will always make them last very nearly twice as long as most people expect them to. The' first essential is always to cut the stems before arranging bloms ln water. It enables them to drink. Most people know this, but few of them realise that the cutting should be done diagonally, not straight (the latter method will often cause wilting). One reason for this may be that the diagonal cut otfers so much more barkless space througb which they can absorb moisture. The water must be kept clean, preferably being clianged every day, in spite of the supcrstition that cut llowers should liever be disturbed for water-changing. A crystal of permanganate of potasli is the best thing for keeping the water pure if daily changing is impractieable. Or, failing that, a piece of charcoal may be dropped into the vases. But no flowers will long survive in impure water, and fallen leaves and petals, wliich quickly poison it, should always be removed at once. Hoses may be kept from their usupl habit of speedily wilting if, every night, they are removed from their vases and either left floatiaig in a bathtub full of cold water, of thrust head downward into a tall jug of water. This is a florists' trick, which is also beneficial to botli maidenhair and asparagus fern. Orchids respond particularly well to this treatment, and, as tliey can be made to last for weeks, it is worth practising on them. The one anoying habit of tulips — that of developing curves — may be altogether prevented by wrapping the wliole buncli of them in newspaper every niglit, and thrusting tho parcel deep into a bucket. The paper liko the flowers, absorbs tlie water and straightens the stems. . The rrign oi carnatioiis can be extended if they are kept in water in which a teaspoonful of boric acid to a gallon of water lias been dissolved. s»