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Index : Container Plants & Patio Gardening
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- 28. Keep Valentine's Day Flowers Fresh - Top
- Flowers are a favorite gift on Valentine's Day. Roses lead the list, but other mixed arrangements are also popular. If you received a gift of cut flowers you'll want to keep them fresh. Here are some tips to extend the life of your flowering bouquet.
Most importantly, change the water in your flower vase daily! Stale water causes the cut ends of the flowers to clog up. When that happens little, if any, water will be drawn up to the leaves and blooms. As a result, petals drop and wilting will occur.
Fill the vase with water that is room temperature or slightly warm to the touch. If your arrangement came with a packet of flower preservative, place that in the vase. You can make your own preservative by mixing a teaspoon of chlorine bleach and a tablespoon of sugar in one gallon of water. Another method is to mix one 12 ounce can of a lemon-lime soda like Sprite or 7-Up in a half gallon of water. The acid in the bleach and soda slows down bacterial growth. The sugars provide nutrients for continual bloom development.
Shortly after receiving your flowers it's a good idea to recut the stems. Use a sharp knife or hand pruners and remove one quarter to one half inch from the bottom of the stems. Stems should be cut under water, in a sink or other basin. This will provide an immediate and uninterrupted flow of water up through the stems.
In case your roses show signs of wilt (droopy heads), they can often be completely revived by cutting the stem under water and placing the entire rose, blossom and all, in a pan of tepid water. It should revive and be as good as new in about an hour. This same trick may be used if one blossom in an arrangement of roses should wilt. When the blossom revives, simply replace it back in the arrangement.
Finally, never place fruit near floral arrangements. Ripening fruit gives of a gas called ethylene. Exposure to ethylene will significantly shorten the life of the blossoms. Also keep flowers in cool locations, out of full sun and away from heat sources such as; heat vents, stoves, dishwashers, lamps, and televisions.
If your planning to plant a vegetable garden this spring, now is the time to decide whether to start them from seed, or purchase transplants.
Many gardeners like to start their plants from seed, because they can grow interesting and unusual varieties not available in the local garden stores. Mail order garden catalogs offer an overwhelming choice; many tried and true varieties are offered, while many others are brand new.
Getting a jump on the season is another important reason for growing plants from seed. Warm season vegetables like tomatoes and eggplant are much more productive in mid to late spring. Extended summer heat here in the desert stresses these plants and reduces fruit production. Setting them out as early as possible will extend the harvest period of warm season crops.
Some vegetables can be grown from seed in window sills, cold frames, or greenhouses for later planting out in the garden. These are the types that transplant easily and include; tomato, eggplant, onion, pepper, and okra.
When growing seeds in containers for later transplanting, use prepared potting soil, jiffy mix or peat pots. You can make your own seed starting mix by combining equal parts of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. These ingredients are also available form garden supply stores. Peat pots, peat pellets, plastic cell packs, trays, egg cartons, and virtually clean container that will hold soil can be used to start seeds. Make sure the container has drainage holes.
Small seeds can be shattered over the soil surface and barely covered. Larger seeds can be planted individually or in groups of three and covered a little deeper. Later, the seedlings planted in groups of three can be thinned to leave the one most vigorous.
Warm soil hastens seed germination. Special heating mats are available from mail order garden catalogs. Heating cables contained in a rubber mat warms the soil some 15 to 20 degrees above the surrounding temperature. Optimum soil temperatures for germination of most warm season vegetable varieties is about 80 degrees.
Starting seeds indoors now will give you a jump on the spring gardening season. It will also enable you to select and grow your own quality transplants of the varieties you choose.
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Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Daily Star gardening column, on February 14, 1999
- Updated: April 20, 2001
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