Come on show your flowers a little love! It’s so important to care for your flowers correctly to ensure they stay fresh and last as long as possible. Remember it doesn’t just start with the care you give them, consider the care they have been given from your supplier and if you are really diligent, the care they have been given by the producer. Be bold and ask about the process adopted by the producer, when the flowers were first cut and subsequently distributed – it is your hard earned money you are investing. The better care they receive from the beginning the fresher and longer lasting they will be for your customer. So make sure you only buy flowers from a reputable source and for your own sake set high quality standards.
Straight after harvest flowers are deprived of water, food and growth regulators. Flowers will start to age immediately unless they are supplied with the right flower food. Conditioning products such as Chrysal post harvest conditioners offer flowers effective protection against ageing and problems caused from lack of water. So if these products have been used before the flowers reach you, you know you are off to a good start. Don’t be shy ask your supplier!
So as a florist what can you do, well here’s a few thoughts from Workbox.
- Use a quality bucket cleaner (we use Chrysal) to clean your flower tools daily, for instance knives and scissors and your flower buckets weekly, this kills any bacteria. Chrysal Cleaner is a detergent so removes limescale and dirt quickly. Importantly it is not harmful to flowers, it even works on glass to give you a sparkling finish.
- When you receive your flowers remove flowers which are damaged, wilting, have mildew, bacterial growth or insects. These simply pass on infection to the healthy flowers.
- Re-cut all stems removing about 2.5-7.5cm from the bottom of the stem. By re-cutting the stems you are allowing a better uptake of water. Remove any foliage that falls below the water line as it promotes the growth of harmful bacteria.
- Place newly re-cut flowers in water containing a good quality floral nutrient, Chrysal Professional 2 is our preferred product. Chrysal Pro2, as it is commonly known, controls the nutrients to the flower, allowing natural development without accelerating full development. Just remember it is essential that the correct dosage is used so if you can be a little heavy handed there is even a dosing unit available to maintain the quality of your flowers and avoid waste.
- Give your customers one or two sachets of flower food, Chrysal and FleurVital will do the job, and a card containing care instructions. The better informed your customer is the better they will care for the flowers and the longer they will last resulting in them coming back for more.
- Finally, flowers like cool conditions so think carefully about your place of storage. Whilst you may not always have the luxury of refigeration, always ensure you keep them away from direct sunlight and those hot spots in your premises.
We think it is shortsighted to have the ethos “the quicker the flowers die the sooner the customer will come back for more” – they won’t! Flowers are still a discretionary purchase and value for money is key in tough economic times. If the arrangements warrant a premium make sure the customers enjoys the benefit of your creation for as long as possible and just like the Terminator ……… they’ll be back!
