How to Make Your Bouquet Last Longer: A Florist's Guide

Good flowers deserve good care

We hand-select every stem, condition it, and design your arrangement the day it ships — so it arrives at its absolute best. What happens next is up to you, and the good news is that keeping a bouquet beautiful for longer comes down to a few small habits. Here's exactly what we do in the studio, and what we'd tell a friend.

1. Start with a clean vase

Bacteria is the enemy of fresh flowers. Wash your vase with soap and hot water before the flowers go in — even if it looks clean. This single step does more than almost anything else.

2. Trim the stems — at an angle

Before arranging, cut 2–3 cm off each stem at a 45° angle with a sharp knife or shears. The angle keeps the stem from sitting flat on the bottom of the vase, so it can keep drinking. Re-trim every couple of days.

3. Strip the lower leaves

Any leaf that sits below the waterline will rot and feed bacteria. Remove them. The flowers above will thank you.

4. Cool, fresh water — changed often

Fill with cool water and the flower food we include, and change the water every two days (every day in warm weather). Fresh water is the closest thing flowers have to a reset button.

5. Keep them out of the heat

This is the big one in a warm climate. Direct sun, a spot above a heater, or right beside a fruit bowl will all shorten a bouquet's life — ripening fruit releases ethylene gas that ages flowers fast. A cool, bright spot away from drafts is perfect.

The mistakes that cut a bouquet short

• Leaving leaves below the waterline
• Topping up water but never changing it
• A sunny windowsill (pretty, but brutal on flowers)
• Forgetting to re-trim the stems

Every bouquet is made to last

Because we design the day we ship and never pre-build or warehouse, your flowers start their life with you as fresh as possible. Give them clean water and a cool spot, and they'll reward you for days.

Ready for the next one? Explore our city collections →