2006-12-20 07:37:50 · 9 answers · asked by Tim L 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
I've heard that putting an aspirin tablet into the water in the vase will help it last a few days longer.
If you want to keep it permanently you might look into methods used for drying flowers. If you *really* want to keep it forever you could have it encased in acrylic (like they do police badges and such), though I'm not sure what company would do this and it might cost a bit. Perhaps check with a company that manufactures plaques and trophies. They might do it or know someone who does.
EDIT: Found a site that does acrylic preservation of flowers if you're interested in it - http://www.flowersforevershop.com/
2006-12-20 07:41:50 · answer #1 · answered by Digital Haruspex 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lemon juice and a little bit of sugar will make a preservative for the water. Change it every couple of days. When you change the water, cut off about 1/4 inch of the very bottom of the stem so that fresh water can get to the bloom. The stem seals quickly after it is cut, so you must have a fresh cut.
Remember that roses are shipped in from Colombia and they are not as fresh as the ones you would cut in your yard. They may have been cut for several weeks and packed in ice by the time they reach your florist. That's why roses don't last very long.
If you want to preserve them, that is dry them, one of the easiest ways is to hang them upside-down in a cool but dry place for several weeks. This allows the heads to dry straight. The colors will not be true and whites will come out creamy colored. Reds will be darker.
Another way to dry flowers is to cover them in fresh kitty litter and let them sit there in an air tight container for several weeks.
Don't try to rush drying times or you will have a failure.
Good luck! I have dried hundreds of blooms the ways I just told you.
PS - I am a florist
2006-12-20 08:30:19 · answer #2 · answered by Loyless H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To live longer now:
If you still have some foliage left around the flower, add a tablespoon of sugar to every gallon of water in a vase. Also, make fresh, angled cuts to the stems and lightly scrape the stems where you've made the new cuts to expose more transport tissue. Place the vase by a sunny window and the newly added sugar coupled with existing foliage will help aid the tissue in creating the energy produced by photosythesis, therefore keeping the flowers looking more fresh, longer.
2006-12-20 08:32:17 · answer #3 · answered by Dan S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To have it live longer trim it every week and change the water frequently use room temperature water as well. To keep it as a keepsake hang it upside down until it dries then you can put them back in a vase for display or you can also press it between the pages of a book. But you cant really do both, I would just enjoy the flower for two weeks and then hang it to dry so you can have it forever.
2006-12-20 07:44:31 · answer #4 · answered by Jaclyn K 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mostly it's about fresh cuts on the stem every 2 or 3 days. I like the lemon juice and sugar treatment... though I've had good-luck with orange soda (make sure it's got citric acid, my Floriculture professor swore by it... also good on Christmas Trees).
I've also 'saturated' or 're-hydrated' cut roses, by allowing them to float (long ways) in luke-warm water for a few hours. Petals and stems can absorb water as well.
There was a lot of good info. on drying from other answerer's as well.
Good luck
2006-12-22 03:02:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
when the rose is at it's peak, hang it upside down and allow it to dry out thoroughly. I hang mine for at least a month. When it's completely dry preserve it by spraying it with a product such as "Clear Kote". You can find products at a craft store or in the paint section of a dept store. I have several bouquets of roses I've preserved ( for years ) and all I use is clear kote.
2006-12-20 10:24:09 · answer #6 · answered by Dukes 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cut about an inch off the bottom of the stem and it SHOULD live for another 3 or 4 months...
2006-12-20 07:41:41 · answer #7 · answered by Tyler g 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
they only last a good couple of days unless of course they are fresh fresh then maybe a week with care and changing the water and re cutting the stems at least every other day. Plant food also helps
2016-05-23 01:33:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hand it upside down and dry it at home. You can also have it freeze-dried, look in wedding mags for places that do this.
you can't have it both, either preserve it now or have it live longer, and throw it out.
2006-12-20 07:40:58 · answer #9 · answered by cadillacrazy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋