Buying fresh flowers is not a difficult task if you equip yourself with some knowledge about flowers and accumulate experience after a few purchases, you will become an expert quickly.
Here are some things to note when buying flowers:
Timing to buy flowers
The best and ideal time of the day to bring beautiful flowers home is in the morning. This is also when the flower shops receive fresh flowers and you can be sure that the flowers you buy are newly cut, not from the previous day.
How to identify freshly cut flowers?
There are some signs to check if the flowers you buy are fresh, such as:
Petals
Gently slide your finger over the petals, if the flower is fresh, you will certainly see that the petals are firm and rigid. If the petals feel soft, cool, and slightly wet, these are undoubtedly leftover flowers from the previous day.
Color
You should only choose flowers with dark colors and avoid buying flowers with faint, color-changing, withered, or thinner than normal petals.
Pollen
If you see signs of dropped pollen inside the flower, it is certain that these flowers have been cut for some time.
Blossom
You should choose flowers with buds or partially bloomed flowers, with small spaces between the petals, about 1/3 – 1/2 of the flower. With these flowers, when you bring them home and put them in a vase, they will continue to bloom, and the time you can enjoy the flowers will be longer than when you buy fully bloomed flowers.
However, this applies to some flower species, not all. For example, with Carnations, they cannot bloom anymore, or if they do, it is very insignificant. Therefore, when buying Carnations, you should choose the ones with the most suitable bloom that you expect.
For lilies, tulips, trumpet lilies, you can choose them when they are about to bloom or slightly bloomed. When you bring them home, they will gradually bloom.
For sunflowers, you should choose flowers that are 1/2 – 2/3 bloomed, and you will be able to admire the beauty of the fully bloomed flowers after a few days.
For roses, you should not choose flowers with buds or fully bloomed flowers. Roses that have bloomed 1/3 – 1/2 are perfect for your flower arrangement.
Inspect the stem
You should choose flowers with straight and sturdy stems, leaves and flowers attached closely to the stem. Remove flowers with soft branches, discolored, curved, or crushed stems.
Leaves
Freshly harvested flowers will have fresh and healthy green leaves. When buying flowers, remember to remove flowers with yellowing, brown stripes, or any signs of abnormalities. These can be signs of harmful diseases for the flowers.
Don’t ignore the small leaves attached to the stem and the flower, they are also a sign to help you determine if the flower is fresh or not.
Water
Most flower shops put the flowers in large containers with water for preservation. However, with old flowers, when you lift them up, there may be unpleasant odor in the water, do not buy them.
Insects
Some flowers may contain small insects on them, so you should check and remove them. They may be the cause of faster flower deterioration and even harmful to your health.
According to Phụ Nữ Việt Nam
“How to Keep Fresh Flowers Arranged for Up to 3 Days Without Overwatering”
It’s almost that time of year again – Tết! As you adorn your home with gorgeous and vibrant flowers, you may be wondering: how do I make sure they stay fresh for as long as possible? If you’re not familiar with the right care techniques, your flowers can fade and start to wilt in as little as one or two days. Don’t worry though, we have some tips here to help keep your flowers looking beautiful for the duration of the festive season!