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Keeping Your Valentine’s Day Flowers Healthy Keeping Your Valentine's Day Flowers Healthy

By Hannah Ferrera

HANNAH FERRERA: If you’re anything like me, you can’t seem to figure out how to keep a bouquet as a centerpiece for more than a few days. With this year’s Valentine’s Day flowers just asking to be shown off, I spoke with a Westcott Florist to figure out how to keep your bouquet alive for as long as possible.

FERRERA: You’ve received a Valentine’s Day bouquet from that special someone – but now what? With inflation hurting consumers pockets and hiking up the prices on flowers this year – how do you get the most out of your gift and make a dozen fresh roses last longer than the chocolate bouquet? Customers of Westcott Florist in Syracuse say water and sunlight are the most common answers to the question of a long-lasting bouquet.

MAN-ON-THE-STREET 1: Specifically. Water and sunlight I imagine.

MAN-ON-THE-STREET 2: Two things real quick. Sunlight and water. That’s it.

FERRERA: However, employees at Westcott Florist say that there are a few tips and tricks when it comes to keeping your flowers as your centerpiece for as long as possible – including monitoring your flowers’ water to sun ratio.

LAURIE HARTER: The more sun it gets, the quicker it may dry out. So just keep in mind if it’s a sunny location, keep checking the water.

FERRERA: Harter also suggests to constantly refresh the vase water with a fertilizer packet after cutting the stems off of the flowers – and to display your bouquet in a low-temperature room. If you were gifted a succulent or a starter plant instead of traditional flowers this year, Harter says to be weary of the difference in care between the two.

HARTER: The vase flowers want water, water, water. Whereas the succulents, you gotta be careful not to overwater them. So they don’t want much water. So you have to give water to them sparingly.

FERRERA: Be sure to keep all these tips in mind when caring for your Valentine’s Day flowers this week.

FERRERA: Hopefully you will be able to admire your Valentine’s Day flowers for a little – or a lot – longer this year.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – While the rush of getting Valentine’s Day flowers has passed, consumers are now faced with a new challenge – keeping these bouquets alive for as long as possible. 

Groceries, gas and rent are not the only goods and services that have been experiencing inflation this year. Valentine’s Day flower prices have increased as well, causing floral shop customers to pay more money than usual on their arrangements.

What are some of the best ways to keep these flowers as the kitchen table centerpiece for more than just a few days?

While many think that water and sunlight is the magic potion for keeping flowers standing upright, it is a little more complicated than that. Laurie Harter, a part-time employee at Westcott Florist in Syracuse and a landscaping business owner herself, stresses the importance of having a correct sun-to-water ratio.

“The more sun it gets, the quicker it may dry out,” said Harter. “So just keep in mind if it’s a sunny location, keep checking the water.”

Harter also gave some tips and tricks to keep in mind when caring for a bouquet:

  • Constantly refresh the water in the vase
  • Use the provided fertilizer packet to give flowers extra nutrients
  • Cut the tips of the stems off of each flower
  • Try to display the bouquet in a low-temperature room to keep it fresh

This year, some plant-purchasers opted for a more non-traditional route and purchased a succulent or starter plant for their loved one. It is important to make note of the difference in care between a bouquet of flowers and a succulent, said Harter.

“The vase flowers want water, water, water. Whereas the succulents … you gotta be careful not to overwater them. So they don’t want much water. So you have to give water to them sparingly.”

Tips such as the ones given by Harter can help keep a Valentine’s Day bouquet on display.

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