I mentioned in last month’s column that I would discuss more about houseplants to brighten your home. I am going to postpone that for another time. In light of the upcoming Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about a few other options – cut flowers and flowering plants. My kids always referred to Valentine’s Day as one of the “candy” holidays (along with Christmas, Easter and Halloween). For me Valentine’s Day is a “flower” holiday, although I wouldn’t turn down any chocolate.
Flowers speak the language of love and many a rose, carnation and tulip will fly out of the florists’ shops this February. Roses are the most popular cut flower and red roses are the flowers most closely associated with Valentine’s Day. According to the International Cut Flower Growers Association roses have long been the most popular flower in the world and symbolize deep emotions including love, devotion, admiration, and in times past even war and politics (War of the Roses). Red roses are the ones that most say “I love you” but also speak of strength and courage; white roses suggest humility, innocence, reverence and purity, and the two together indicate unity. Pink implies admiration, joy and gratitude and yellow, friendship and caring.
Following roses, the most popular flowers are carnations, gerberas (daisies), tulips, gladiolas and lilies. If you are the lucky recipient of flowers of any kind this Valentine’s day you will want to do what you can to make them last as long as possible. With proper care you can make them last between 5 and 7 days – maybe even longer if you are lucky. Here are a few tips on how you can do that.
- Start with a clean vase. Wash thoroughly with a bottle brush in warm soapy water, rinse and dry. If you cannot get a brush inside the vase, try using a foaming denture cleaner and let it sit overnight. Rinse and dry.
- Fill the vase with lukewarm water and add the preservative that should have come with the flowers. Old axioms about adding aspirin and placing copper pennies in the vase to keep flowers fresh longer have no basis in fact, but research does show that flower preservatives do add several days to the life of cut flowers. A floral preservative is a mixture of sucrose (sugar), an acidifier–which inhibits the growth of microorganisms, and a respiratory inhibitor.
- Strip the foliage that would be below the water level from each flower stem. Foliage under water will quickly rot and foul the water.
- Cut the stem of each flower under running water. During the trip from the florist the base of each stem will have healed over in order to prevent the loss of water from the flower. This also prevents the flower from taking up more water so you must cut off the tip in order to open the stem up. Use a sharp knife and cut at a 45° angle. Do not use a scissors as this will just pinch the stem closed again. Cut under running water so that no air bubbles can clog the conductive tissue also preventing the flower from taking in water. Cut at a 45° angle so that the flower does not sit flat on the bottom of the vase — also preventing it from taking up water. Place each flower in the vase after you cut it.
- Place the vase in a cool spot for a couple of hours. If possible refrigerate. Flowers in cooler temperatures lose less water and mature slower.
- Put your bouquet of flowers on display out of direct sunlight and direct heat. The cooler the temperatures the longer your flowers will last.
After a few days add some water with preservative. If you see a single flower that seems to droop before the others look to see if it is setting on the bottom of the vase and not taking up any water.
Even with excellent care your cut flowers will last only a week or two at the most. There are several flowering plants that also make excellent Valentine’s gifts and can give you many years of enjoyment with the proper care/conditions. Hibiscuses are available from florists, garden centers and nurseries; these are tropical plants and are not winter hardy in our climate. They have large, showy flowers that can be as big as a dinner plate, but each bloom lasts only a day and then closes up and drops off. The flowers can vary from deep red to pink to white. Hibiscus should be placed in a warm sunny location where they can receive 4-5 hours of bright light each day. Their soil should be kept moist but not saturated, and they should be fertilized once every 2-3 weeks. They tolerate a minimum temperature of 55° F but do better in 65° F – 75° F.
A greenhouse azalea is another lovely flowering houseplant, considerably smaller than a hibiscus that makes it somewhat more manageable. It has evergreen leaves and can go through several blooming periods each year. It is only hardy in zones 8-10. Azaleas need plenty of water but should be well drained. After watering empty the saucer under the pot so that it will not wick back into the soil. However, if the azalea is allowed to get too dry, it will begin to drop leaves and shortly after will die. Azaleas like night time temperatures of 45° -55° but daytime temperatures not to exceed 68°. While blooming the plant needs four hours of direct sunlight and no fertilizer. After it has finished blooming you can trim off the flowers, cut the plant back 4-5 inches, keep it in a sunny window and fertilize it until more flower buds appear.
I am a firm believer in keeping flowers or flowering plants in my house year-round, so if nothing is in bloom I indulge in a bouquet of cut flowers. You should too! You deserve it!