HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Despite the current political and health atmosphere, all is going mostly well as many Americans celebrate this special day.
As someone who writes “Flower Guy” on my name tags when I attend various gatherings, I could not be more pleased tonight.
Many of the oohs and aahs that will be voiced as people react to fireworks tonight will be for high flying incendiaries with names like dahlia, chrysanthemum and peony.
Flowers are great, and certain ones are so beautiful that they conjure up soaring emotions, memories or feelings.
We should express ourselves in our gardens, surrounding ourselves with what our sense of art is.
And by all means, we should bring the little masterpieces indoors for display, or pass them out as wonderful gifts of expression.
Now, let’s review preparing, harvesting, and conditioning your cut flowers.
Remember to cut your ornamentals at a slant and always use a very sharp instrument, preferably a knife or Guillotine-type pruner.
Scissors or dull instruments crush the water conducting tubes.
Never leave fresh cut flowers standing around out of water! A freshly cut stem instantly will start to callus itself off.
Take out buckets of lukewarm water and immediately put stems in water.
All containers should be cleaned well after every use to control and discourage the bacteria that clog the stems and wilt the flowers.
Trim off all the lower leaves that have any possibility of being in contact with water while in the vase. When harvesting, conditioning or final arranging, never pack flowers in — let them breathe.
That said, how do we condition flowers cut today for bouquets?
Here are some flowers and how to prepare them.
• Asters. Split stems if woody, cut when showing color, condition with warm water overnight.
• Ageratum. Cut when half a cluster is open, condition overnight in cold water.
• Azaleas and rhododendrons. Split stems, cut before fully opened, condition overnight in ¼ teaspoon alcohol mixed into cold water.
• Calla lily. Cut when bloom just begins to open, submerge leaves in very cold water for two hours, then in shallow cold water another two hours.
• Carnations and Dianthus. Cut above the node (joint), place in cold water overnight, recut, char and boil the end when arranging.
• Clematis. Cut into woody stem or older branch, split stem, place overnight in cold water.
• Dahlia. Cut and remove foliage and unopened buds, condition overnight in very cold water. For a large flower with a long stem, soak for two hours in cold water, place end of stem in boiling water and condition overnight in cold water. Dahlias like dark for conditioning.
• Daylily. Char and boil stems, place deep in cold water overnight. Store in dark prior to night time display.
• Delphinium. Cut when half a stalk is open, remove top bud tip, place in cold water overnight.
• Euphorbia. Cut stems, strip leaves, immediately char and boil stems, place in cold water overnight.
• Fern fronds. Cut long stems to ground, immediately submerge in cold water for two hours, shake off leaves, place stems in water until needed.
• Gladiolas. Harvest when second flower opens, remove tip with 2 to 4 buds, stand a half hour out of water, then recut stems and condition overnight deep in cold water.
• Hollyhock. This is relatively difficult. Cut when half of blooms are developed, remove all leaves, split several inches up stem, sear stem, condition 20 hours deep in warm water.
• Hostas. Same as ferns.
• Hydrangea. Cut and split stem, boil ends and condition in very cold water overnight.
• Iris. Cut as soon as first flower begins to open, condition overnight deep in cold water.
• Ivy. For greens, cut below node, wash clean, then treat as ferns and hostas.
• Lavender. Harvest when half-open, split stem, condition overnight in lukewarm water.
• Lilies. Cut long, remove foliage from bottom three quarters, remove anthers from bloom, run water over upside-down flowers, condition overnight with split stems in cold water.
• Marigolds. Cut before open, strip foliage, char large flower types, condition overnight in cold water.
• Nasturtiums. Harvest when bloom fully open, split stems, condition overnight in cold water. Leaves can be conditioned for 24 hours in warm water.
• Poppy. Cut as bud shows color, strip of green bud cover, char stems, condition in cold water for 12 hours.
• Roses. Remove thorns. Strip all but top leaves, split stems, and place leaves in cold water for 24 hours in a cooler if possible.
• Sunflower. Cut late in the day, when fully open, char stems and soak in deep cold water for 15 hours.
• Sweet peas. Break or snap off by pushing backwards. Do not get flowers wet, soak in cold water 10 to 15 hours.
This is by no means the full list of plants you can grow for cut flowers, but it is a start.
Flowers condition better in a cool, well ventilated, dark place.
I believe once flowers are arranged, the best thing you can do is replace the water once a day.
When changing the water, vigorously rinse out the vase, rinse the stems too and replace immediately in cold water.
Re-cutting stems that do not require boiling or charring is extremely beneficial for increasing the life of your flowers as well.
Now, go out, cut and condition away your lovely blooms.
While you’re at it, send a few photos of your floral arrangement skills to me in care of the Peninsula Daily News.
And please, stay well all!
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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
