Ten Days, Not Three: How to Make Your Bouquet Last

Every bouquet that leaves our Surry Hills atelier is conditioned to last ten days or more — and yours can too.

Start with a clean vase. Bacteria is the enemy of cut stems, so wash your vessel with hot soapy water before anything else. Fill it with cool water and the flower food sachet we tuck into every wrap.

Cut each stem on a sharp diagonal, at least two centimetres from the base, under running water if you can. Remove any leaf that would sit below the waterline — submerged foliage rots fast.

Change the water every two days, re-cutting stems each time. Keep the arrangement away from direct sun, heaters and the fruit bowl: ripening fruit releases ethylene gas, which ages flowers overnight.

Roses drooping early? Submerge the whole stem — head and all — in a sink of cool water for thirty minutes. Nine times out of ten they stand straight again.