Afresh flower arrangement never fails to lift your spirits. It adds colour to your house, filling it with positivity and energy. But what measures can one take to make all this last longer? As laymen, we are aware of certain measures such as adding a spoonful of sugar or an aspirin for the nourishment of the flowers or using a water spray to keep them looking bright. But, the process of making fresh flowers stay fresh starts right from its selection process. Be careful while taking your pick as these flowers are expensive compared to their artificial counterparts. Ideally, one should look for the ones that look youthful and not matured.

The tell-tale signs of the latter would be drooping petals with a yellowish or brownish tinge at the corners. Fresh ones shall always have petals that are firm and are just beginning to bloom. The vase or the container in which the flowers are to be kept should be clean.

They should be free from any leftover mucous from the earlier arrangements. Light is the source of life. Hence, it is advisable to keep flowers in a place where there is enough light coming in. This surely does not mean that you expose them to direct sunlight, as that will only make them shrink. Just make sure they aren’t put away in some dark corner of a room, and expose air them once in a while.

An important thing to remember is that one should not keep flower arrangements atop devices that heat up such as a television, a refrigerator or an oven. This can cause the flowers to lose excess water and wither away quickly. Sharing some tips, florist Munira Taherbhoy says, “It is important to keep a constant watch that the stems do not catch any fungus. The trick to achieve that is by removing the leaves that are below the waterline. They are the main cause of promoting the growth of fungicausing bacteria. It also helps to retain the freshness of these flowers, as the leaves soak up a lot of water resulting in less water being transported to the other parts.” Taherbhoy also suggests a daily change of water in the container.

Some other tried and tested ways are adding a mixture of a pinch of salt and baking soda or adding a copper element to the water. Also, ready pouches of medicine are available in the market. They keep these colourful creations of nature smiling.