On 08/11/2013 19:14, sacha wrote:
This morning, Ray came in with 3 Brugmansia flowers for me to see. Two
were from the same plant but showed the change in colour as they aged
and one was pretty consistent. I asked him to put the 3 blooms into
water to see if they'd survive but they flopped rapidly and were
consigned to the rubbish bin. They certainly don't 'pick well'! But I
cannot begin to describe the strength of their perfume as it permeates
the kitchen now. And this is while they're quietly shrivelling up in
the bin.

Next time retrim the flower stems with the sharpest possible tool whilst
holding the cut ends under water. Chances are you got air sucked into
the xylem when they were cut off the plant = rapid expiry.

I haven't tried it on brugsmania, but I know it is the recommended
method of cutting flowers for ikebana to maximise lifetime.

The perfume off the best ones is almost hypnotic and can fill the
greenhouse in the evenings. ISTR they were once used to perfume luxury
soap in the days before synthetic chemistry.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown