On 12/2/07 16:38, in article
, "Toby Douglass"
wrote:

I've recently, finally, had a very nice vase bought for me.

I've been reading up on looking after cut flowers; changing the water,
cutting the stems, etc.

I need to buy a supply of cut flower food - I was wondering if people
had any experience or recommendations in this matter?

I'm not convinced it makes the slightest difference, really. I've done
flower arranging for years, church flowers, festivals, weddings,
christenings etc. IME, all flowers are different in the length of time they
live after being cut and I think some people recommend e.g aspirin and some
lemonade, in the water.
Some people wire the stems of e.g. tulips and Gerberas. I don't. Some
people drip candle wax onto the back of camellias to stop the petals
falling. Good conditioning of the flowers before arranging is important.
Make sure they have a long drink of water right up to their necks, cut stems
by about an inch and if using woody stems, bash them a bit to help them take
up the conditioning water, then cut them to the length you want. If roses
start to flag, try cutting the stems a little plunging them into boiling
water for half a minute (watch the steam on your hands!) and then into cold
water before replacing them in their vase.
If you use Oasis, let it soak thoroughly before use and make sure there's
plenty of water in the container. If you let wet Oasis dry out it will
never take up water again, so don't even bother with it. I sometimes think
every church in Britain must have a collection of bits of old, dried out
Oasis that some hopeful person thinks can be used over and over again! It
can't.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)