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Harvesting Garden Flowers:
For Flower Lover's, there is no thrill greater than making wonderful arrangements using
flowers that you have grown in your own garden. The same basic care & handling
techniques that apply to commercially grown flowers also applies to flowers from your
garden. This, plus a few additional techniques will allow you to enjoy the maximum
vase life of flowers from the garden. |
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| It is very important to harvest garden flowers either in the late
evening or in the very early morning when the sun is down and the heat of the day is off
of the flowers. At this time the flowers are fully turgid with water and contain the
highest carbohydrate reserves. Never cut flowers in the heat of the day. They
are so stressed at this time of the day that they may never be able to rehydrate as a cut
flower. |
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| When harvesting flowers cut them with shears and place them directly
into a bucket containing enough water to completely cover the cut stems. Bring the
flowers indoors for processing as quickly as possible. Recut the stems under water
with sharp knife and place them in a holding vase filled with a solution of water
and floral preservative / food. You should allow garden flowers to set in the
solution of water and floral preservative / food for a minimum eight hours at room
temperature prior to cool storage or arranging the flowers. Do not be disappointed if your favorite fragrant garden rose does
not last as long as commercially grown roses. Remember that commercially grown
flowers are selectively bred for their ability to last well as a cut flower. As a
general rule, garden flowers with the greatest fragrance have the shortest vase life. |
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