How to Keep Your Flowers Lasting Longer This Summer

Make the Most of Every Bloom This Summer

There is nothing quite like a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers brightening up your home — but summer heat can be a florist's greatest challenge. Warmer temperatures, longer days, and drier air all conspire to shorten the life of your blooms. The good news? With a few simple habits, you can keep your flowers looking stunning for significantly longer. Here are our top tips from the team at Putney Florist.

Change the Water and Give a Fresh Cut — Every Time

This is the single most important thing you can do for your flowers. Fresh water and a fresh cut are the foundation of flower longevity. Bacteria builds up in vase water quickly, especially in summer warmth, and this blocks the stems from drawing up moisture and nutrients.

We recommend changing the water in your vase every one to two days, and each time you do, trim a centimetre or two off the bottom of each stem at a diagonal angle. A diagonal cut increases the surface area available for water uptake and prevents the stem from sitting flat against the bottom of the vase, which can restrict flow. Use clean, cool water — not cold — and your flowers will thank you for it.

Remove the Packaging Straight Away

When your flowers arrive, remove all packaging as soon as possible. Wrapping and cellophane trap heat and moisture around the stems and blooms, which accelerates wilting and encourages bacterial growth. Get them into a clean vase with fresh water promptly — the sooner, the better. Never leave wrapped flowers sitting on a worktop or in a warm car for longer than necessary.

Never Leave Flowers Out of Water for Long

Flowers begin to suffer the moment they are out of water, particularly in summer. Even a short period without hydration can cause stems to seal over, making it much harder for the flower to drink once it is placed back in a vase. If you are rearranging, trimming, or transporting your flowers, work quickly and get them back into water as soon as you can. If you are giving flowers as a gift, try to ensure they reach their recipient promptly and with water-soaked wrapping if possible.

Choose the Right Position to Display Your Flowers

Where you place your flowers makes an enormous difference to how long they last. In summer, it is especially important to keep flowers away from:

• Direct sunlight — a sunny windowsill may look beautiful, but the heat and UV will cause blooms to fade and wilt rapidly
• Radiators and heat sources — even in summer, underfloor heating or warm appliances nearby can dry flowers out quickly
• Draughts and fans — moving air dehydrates petals faster than still air
• Fruit bowls — ripening fruit releases ethylene gas, which accelerates the ageing of flowers

The ideal spot is a cool, bright area away from direct sun — think a shaded corner of a room that gets good natural light, or a hallway that stays relatively cool throughout the day.

Room Temperature Is Everything

Flowers are happiest in a cool, stable environment. In summer, this can be a challenge as indoor temperatures rise. Try to keep your flowers in the coolest room in the house during a heatwave, and if you go away for the weekend, consider moving them somewhere shaded and cool before you leave. Some people even pop their flowers in a cool room overnight — this can genuinely extend their life by a day or two.

Avoid placing flowers in rooms that get very hot during the day, such as south-facing living rooms with large windows. The cooler the room, the slower the blooms will age.

A Little Care Goes a Long Way

Fresh flowers are one of life's simple pleasures, and with just a little attention they can reward you with days — sometimes weeks — of beauty. Change the water, give a fresh cut, remove the packaging promptly, keep them out of the heat, and choose a cool, bright spot to display them. These small habits make a real difference.

At Putney Florist, we take great care in conditioning our flowers before they leave us, so they arrive in the best possible condition. But the love you show them at home is what keeps them going. We hope these tips help you enjoy your blooms for as long as possible this summer.

Need a fresh bouquet delivered to your door? We offer same-day flower delivery across SW15, SW13, SW14, SW18, SW19, SW20, SW6, TW9, TW10, and W4. Order online or pop in to see us in Putney.