Connie came back to the beach after four days and said "Gee, the
sunflowers are still ok". (Tho Bert, the cat, was sufficiently
enamored of them to knock over the vase twice in her absence

That makes it about a week since purchase...from a
long-shopped/respected farmstand.

Her feeling is that past sunflowers don't last long. These are cut to
8-10" stems, but her earlier ones were longer stems. Any relevance?

I can't believe it's the salt air Good genes? Why do some flowers
last, anyway?

-Brad