You can create your own tropical flower arrangements and bring some paradise to your home or office. Tropical flowers are pretty hardy and will last awhile with the right care.
Here are some things you can do to maximize their life:
1. Submerge in water as soon as they arrive.
Every type of fresh cut flower will produce a certain amount of ethylene gas during shipping, but this can be taken care of by immediately unwrapping them and completely submerge them in a large tub of room temperature water for 10 to 20 minutes. This applies to almost all the tropicals except for the fuzzy protease and most orchids.
2. Slant the stem to help the flowers get more water.
Cut the stems about an inch from the bottom at about a 45-degree angle. The slant ensures that the stem will draw the maximum amount of water. Do this several times during the week, and you will extend their life.
3. Warm and wet is their natural environment.
Tropical flowers grow in warm, rainy climates, and they enjoy being wet. For this reason, keep your tropical plants away from drafts, cool places and direct sunlight. Mist them daily to keep the moisture content up.
In nature, tropical blooms have pods facing upward, as they like to pool water in them. You can also do this with your fresh cut flowers.
4. A little bleach is a good thing.
If you find that the water is cloudy, put a few drops of bleach in the water. This helps to prevent bacteria from growing and won’t hurt the flowers.
5. Keep the leaves above the waterline.
Make sure that when you are arranging your flowers in a vase that you do not have any leaves below the water line. The submerged leaves will rapidly decay and cause damage or kill the rest of the flowers in the arrangement.
6. Ease open your bird of paradise.
If you purchased a bird-of-paradise for your arrangement, and they’re not open, you can gently ease them apart by taking your index finger or thumb and slowly push your way up from the base of the flower and force the blooms up.
This won’t hurt the flowers at all, provided you’re gentle.
Most tropical flowers will last between 7 and 14 days if properly taken care of.
I have seen cymbidium orchids last as long as 3 weeks.
So bring a little piece of tropical paradise in your home or office by creating an arrangement of beautiful, vibrant exotic flowers.
