I always have fresh flowers in my house and no, I am by far no Martha Stewart. I made a decision several years back to enjoy flowers and keep them as people enjoy a tasty beverage from Starbucks-my vice will be flowers, yes that’s it. I was a florist for years therefore I guess the idea just stuck that I would need to deal with blossoms in one capacity or another from that point forward. You may ask…where do you get your flowers? I will fess-the grocery store because I go there at least once a week to buy supplies so it seems fitting to kill two birds with one stone. I buy individual bunches and either arrange them together or group them by flower in individual vases. You do not need to be Miss Fancy Pants to do this people. Don’t say, “well hers looks so good because she knows what she is doing.” I can enlighten you with a few tricks and like with most things in life, it just takes practice.
1. Florists and stores usually get their largest shipment of fresh flowers on Monday and or Tuesday. Buy then.
2. Look for tight buds and heads. If roses are fully open, you do not want them. If lilies are all cracked, look for stems with more buds closed.
3. Ever buy prearranged flowers and then go home, take them out of the cellophane and put them in a vase and they look awful then you wonder why they looked better in the store? First, they never give you enough greenery (go into your yard and cut some greenery from shrubs if needed). Second, they usually pack those bunches with cheaper flowers that need to be cut and arranged to look right. If you like the way the bunch looks, then take them out of the cellophane and use a rubber band or ribbon to hold the flowers together the way they came, cut the stems, and shove them in a vase.
4. Make sure you get the flower food packets and change your water at least every other day.
5. Pick one type of flower and cluster them all together. Like five stems of lilies in a really nice bud vase or 20 stems of solid colored carnations arranged low in a glass rectangle vase.
6. Always trim each stem so the flower can drink better (use scissors-they work easy) before you arrange and make sure you strip off all leaves on the stems that might be under the water as they will cause bacteria growth decreasing the life of your flowers.
Go on-buy some and try it yourself. Take them to work, put them on your bathroom counter, place them beside your bed. Flowers really will lighten your mood and honestly, you are worth it.
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