How to keep your arrangements fresh!

Here at A Beautiful Bouquet Florist, we often get asked what should be done to keep floral arrangements fresh and alive. These are our best tips for keeping your arrangements beautiful and happy!

1. The first and most important step to keeping your arrangements fresh is to CHANGE THE WATER DAILY! We often tell customers that if the water in the vase doesn't look like something you would like to drink, the flowers probably don't want to drink it either. To do this you can grab the arrangement tightly at the top of the vase and pull the flowers out to change the water or you can simply run the water along the edge of the inside of the vase until all of the old water has been removed and replaced with fresh water. (**note: if you have a water softener system, please do not use your tap water as this will harm the flowers) 
2. Another simple step is to keep the arrangement away from extreme cold or heat. Do no place arrangements near a vent that is blowing hot air and do not place near a window when it is cold or hot outside. Also keep your arrangement out of direct sunlight. Again, just like you, flowers prefer to be kept a temperature that is comfortable and not too extreme. 
3. Keep bacteria at bay! Bacteria is a fresh cut flower arrangement's biggest enemy. This can be done by keeping the water changed daily, keeping the vase clean, and every so often snip the ends off the flower stem at a 45 degree angle. This angle and removal of older tips helps prevent bacteria.
4. Remove any greenery (leaves, etc..) that is submerged in the water. This will keep the water cleaner and prevent the growth of bacteria. 
5. You can also lightly mist most flowers in order to give them an extra drink of water. (**Hydrangeas (white and blue flower seen above) like water so much that you can actually dip the blooms in a bowl of clean water) 

There are also many tips online that you can experiment with in order to see what works best for your flowers. Overall, the best tip for keeping your arrangement happy and healthy, is to change the water and to keep the arrangement in a cool room away from the sun and extreme temperatures.