Ali Bleu Flowers & Gifts

Family Owned and Operated in Austin, Texas!

Maintaining And Preserving Flowers


There's nothing like receiving fresh flowers. They look and smell so wonderful, it's a shame you can't keep them forever. You can maintain them and help them look their best while they're here, with a little help from your florist.

Fresh flowers need water. The best thing you can do for fresh flower arrangements is to monitor the water they have, and maintain it. Fresh flowers come with a packet of "flower food." Use this packet according to the directions when you receive arrangements that sit in a vase.  Monitor the water level and add water when the level in the vase begins to drop. 

Your flowers can last more than a week and sometimes as many as two weeks with proper maintenance. Change the water in the vase when it becomes cloudy or begins to darken. If you don't have additional flower food, dissolve an aspirin tablet in the water, or add a few drops of clear soda pop to the water in your vase. These will help supply the nutrients your flowers need to maintain their beauty as long as possible. 

If your flower arrangement is in floral foam, make sure the foam stays wet all the time. The foam should be wet to the touch. Add water to the foam as often as needed. Normally, the water level for a foam arrangement should be as high as the outer container permits. You can also add floral food to the outer container. The foam will absorb the flower food and will be taken up by the flowers.

Do not put your flower arrangements in the sunlight. The sun will cause cut flowers to wilt and turn brown. It will also cause the water to evaporate faster. Also keep your flowers away from heat ducts for the same reasons. If you have house pets, put your flowers in a safe location to prevent accidental spills or ingestion of flowers or treated water in the vase. 

Discard your flowers when they turn brown, wilt or begin to lose petals. If your arrangement is made from many different flower types, you'll find that some of your flowers will outlast others. As some flowers begin to wilt, shift the remaining flowers to a smaller container to help keep them looking beautiful.

If you want to preserve your flowers by drying them, you'll want to plan ahead. Instead of waiting until they begin to wilt, hang them upside down in a warm, dark and dry place while they are still at the peak of freshness. Hang-dried flowers will be very stiff once the drying process is complete. Blue and yellow dried flowers retain their colors very well. Red and pink dried flowers tend to fade. Certain flowers will also shrink somewhat when they are air-dried. Air-drying is appropriate for most flowers and foliage. If you plan to dry flowers in the microwave, research carefully! Not all flowers can tolerate microwaving, but foliage often does well with this drying method.

Ali Bleu Flowers & Gifts
6800 West Gate Boulevard
Austin, TX 78745-4868
(512) 448-1421