# Keeping cut flowers fresh **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738 "2002-03-29T13:22:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/1 "2002-03-29T13:22:24Z")
I’ve heard of many ways to keep cut flowers fresh longer in the vase…pour sugar in, drop two Bayer Aspirin in the vase, bleach, ice water, sear the ends of the flowers in a pan… What do you guys use, and what do you think is the best way? Should I do everything? I cut the ends off, but after that I’m lost. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/2 "2002-03-29T13:35:19Z")
cut ends at angle - why an angle, you say? More exsposed surface area when you cut that way. I’ve heard the aspirin thing, but never saw anyone do it. What do I do? I cut the ends at an angle, put them in water and drop in some household ammonia - which is just nitrogen (like a fertilizer) ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/3 "2002-03-29T16:24:03Z")
It’s also supposed to be good to trim the stems a bit every day and replace the water. I once heard that dropping a few pennies into the bottom of the vase helps tulips stay pretty longer. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/4 "2002-03-29T16:55:41Z")
Listerine in the water keeps cut roses (only roses, though) fresh longer. ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/5 "2002-03-29T17:09:19Z")
angle cuts have always worked for me. And change the water daily. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/6 "2002-03-29T18:42:04Z")
gin in the water perks droopy tulips right up, but I don’t know how/if it helps other flowers. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/7 "2002-03-29T21:00:28Z")
With all due respect, you guys are just confusing me more!!!😕 I guess different flowers respond differently to different things. Any all purpose, one size fits all drop in the vase thing? ---
**Author:** ![fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ba0ec/32.png) [@fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fish_in_the_sky)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/8 "2002-03-29T23:14:17Z")
I’m kind of a professional on this; in the summertimes I work for a farm that grows flowers for florists and farm markets. I don’t put much faith in the aspirin-penny-fairy dust methods. If you’ve got something that works for you, go withit, but I don’t have anything to recommend in that department. The people I work for put a bit of bleach (I think) in with allium, but I think that is just to cut the oniony smell of allium. There is a flower preservative called Floralife (which is available in little packets at florists) and they’ll use that if they need to keep something a long time. But it’s not vitally nessecary. My advice is this: Cut the stems at an angle (more open surface area) and recut them a little tiny bit everyday; they’ll take up water better that way. Put 'em in cold water, and change the water everyday. If you’re really ambitious, you can put the flowers in the fridge at night. (At work we have a big walk-in cooler to keep the flowers in, and I’ve see cut gladiolus several weeks old that look as fresh as the day they were cut.) And some flowers just don’t last very long. If you’re getting things from a garden, you have to remember that not all flowers make good cut-flowers. If you’re buying from a florist or a farm market, you should ask the people there what to do for the paticular flowers you’re buying. But mostly just remember to recut the stems and change the water everyday. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/9 "2002-03-30T00:42:06Z")
I’m in the “cut the stems at an angle” camp. The only thing I do differently is that once I cut the stems at an angle, I then make a slit in the base of the stem up the center, about 1 1/2 " in length. This gives more surface area for drinking. Of course, I stole this from Martha Stewart. As far as adding anything to the water, I don’t unless the flowers came with something. I just haven’t noticed that it makes much of a difference either way. I also second what **Witch** said, changing the water every day seems to help. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/10 "2002-03-30T00:47:11Z")
I cut the stems at an angle and I’ve always plopped an aspirin or two (depending on the size of the bouquet) into the water, just because my mother always did. ---
**Author:** ![Mame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Mame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mame)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-cut-flowers-fresh/100738/11 "2002-03-30T13:36:27Z")
I’m doing an Ikebana course at the moment. The teacher advises nicotine water for some flowers (finally - a use for cigarette butts, and I don’t smoke!) particularly tulips. As far as I can gather from the replies thus far, tulips are drama queens who just want to feel someone is paying extra attention to them. For most flowers he says to hold the stem under water and snip a few centimeters off the end, then repeat by snipping a couple of mills more off underwater. Says it stops air bubbles going up the stem which is what blocks the passage of water up the step which in turn causes the flowers to droop more quickly. For western style flower arranging (ie without a kenzan (little metal spiky thing to stick stems on)) add some bleach to the water in the vase to slow the bacteria (_Klebsiella sp._)which forms the stinky slime that rots the stem.