Here's What to Do With Those Fresh-Cut Flowers as Soon as You Get Home

Some blooms require a little TLC to remain in tip-top shape. Popular flowers, such as hydrangeas, roses, tulips, and lilies all benefit from some extra attention to help them look their best. Simple steps, such as hydrating the blooms before arranging a bouquet or providing support to flowers that tend to droop, can make all the difference. In the book Flower School: A Practical Guide to the Art of Flower Arranging, Calvert Crary advises how to care for the flower varieties below as soon as you get home. Follow these steps for better bouquets.

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Anemones

Hydrate for one to two hours in cool water, and keep away from extreme heat.

Tulips

Hydrate cut flowers for a full five to six hours before arranging so they can stand on their own (otherwise you’ll be left with floppy stems).

Amaryllis

Avoid drooping by inserting a wooden skewer or chopstick into the hollow stem.

Hydrangeas

Make a one-inch slit up the center of the stem, and moisten the heads with a spray bottle to ensure they stay adequately hydrated.

Lillies

Buds need four to seven days to fully open (enough time for you to prepare for the intense fragrance lilies are famous for).

Roses

Remove all foliage, and hydrate stems for two to four hours in hot water before arranging in a separate vase.

Excerpted from Flower School: A Practical Guide to the Art of Flower Arranging by Calvert Crary. Reprinted by permission of Black Dog & Leventhal, an imprint of Running Press, part of the Perseus division of Hachette Book Group. Copyright © 2020 by Calvert Crary.