Add Hours to your Flowers

And a little information about floral design including bud vases

Add Hours to Your Flowers

• Cut stems at an angle• Keep flowers hydrated (in water)• Keep flowers cool• Keep flowers away from fruits and vegetables

(they produce gasses that make flowers wilt)• Feed flowers with regular flower food or diluted

7-up or sprite (acid kills bacteria and fungus and sugar provides food)

• Clean containers with bleach (kills bacteria and fungus)

• Add water as your flowers use it• Protect from extreme temperatures• Do not add aspirin to flower water (There are

many old wives tales about adding aspirin or pennies to flower water to make the flower last longer, it does not work)

• Recut stems as needed (Stems try to heal just like when you get a scab over a cut, by recutting the flower can take up water better)

Type of Flowers• Primary

– Act as focal point– More expensive– More colorful– Larger

• Secondary/Complementary– Not always used– Can use more than one type– tend to be different shape or color

• Filler– Really Cheap– Adds size to arrangement– Makes it look more expensive without adding a

lot of cost– Fills in holes– Examples Baby’s Breath, Heather, Statice,

Caspia

Parts of a flower arrangement• Flowers

• Foliage– Makes arrangements look larger, fuller and more

expensive– Hides mechanics– Adds contrast to color and texture– Helps to define shape– Examples of common shapes include line and mass

arrangements

• Mechanics– Nonorganic part of the

arrangement– Helps hold arrangement

together– Examples: Bows, wire,

foam, container, decorations, card holder

• You will be making a bud vase similar to this in class