Flower Care

Flower Care

Your arrangement was hand-styled the morning of delivery. With the right care, fresh roses and seasonal stems hold their full beauty for 7–10 days. Here is exactly how to make that happen.

1. The First Hour

When the arrangement arrives, place it out of direct sunlight, away from heating or air-conditioning vents, and away from fruit (ripening fruit releases ethylene gas that ages flowers within hours). Indirect, room-temperature light is ideal.

If the arrangement is in a vase, top up the water immediately — vases lose volume in transit. If it's in a hat box, basket, or floral foam vessel, do not add water from the top. Those vessels are watered through their hidden reservoir; instructions are below.

2. Watering — Vase Arrangements

  • Top up daily. Roses and peonies drink heavily in the first 48 hours.
  • Change the water every 2 days. Lift the arrangement out, pour the old water down the drain, rinse the vase, refill with cool tap water.
  • Re-cut the stems each time you change water. Use sharp scissors or a knife, cut at a 45° angle, remove about half an inch. A fresh cut reopens the stem to drink.
  • Strip any leaves that sit below the waterline. Submerged leaves rot quickly and cloud the water.

3. Watering — Hat Boxes, Baskets, Floral Foam

If your arrangement is in a hat box, basket, or any vessel with a hidden water reservoir, the flowers are sitting in floral foam that holds water like a sponge. To keep them fresh:

  • Add cool water directly into the vessel, slowly, until the foam stops drinking. Stop the moment you see water at the surface of the foam.
  • Repeat every 2 days, or whenever the foam feels lighter and the stems start to droop.
  • Do not over-water. If the box or basket has a liner, water that exceeds the liner's capacity will leak onto your furniture.

4. Temperature

Fresh flowers prefer cool rooms (65–72°F / 18–22°C). They last noticeably longer in a cool bedroom or hallway than on a sunlit kitchen counter. If you want to extend the lifespan further, move the arrangement into a cool room overnight — flowers rest at lower temperatures the way we do.

During Las Vegas summer, if your home temperature climbs above 78°F, expect the arrangement to mature faster. There is no fix for that other than cooler placement.

5. Roses — Specific Care

Roses are our most-ordered flower and benefit from a few extra steps:

  • Re-cut at the 48-hour mark. Even if the water is clean, a fresh diagonal cut at day two adds 2–3 days of vase life.
  • Outer petals are protective. The outermost petals on each rose head — called guard petals — sometimes look bruised. They are protecting the bloom. You can gently pull them off if you prefer a cleaner look; the rose will not be damaged.
  • Wilted heads can be revived. If a rose head droops sharply, lay the stem flat in a sink of cool water for 30 minutes, then re-cut and return to the vase. About half the time, the head will rehydrate and lift overnight.

6. Peonies — Specific Care

Peonies arrive in tight bud and open over 2–5 days into the showpiece blooms they are known for. To accelerate opening, place them in slightly warmer water (about 80°F / room-warm) for the first 12 hours. To slow opening — useful if you want them peaked for an event later in the week — keep them in cool water in the coolest room of your home.

Peonies have a short but spectacular vase life: typically 5–7 days from full open. They are worth every day.

7. Things to Avoid

  • Direct sunlight — fades color and pushes blooms past peak.
  • Heating or air-conditioning vents — desiccates petals in hours.
  • Fruit bowls and ripening produce on the same counter.
  • Adding pennies, sugar, bleach, or aspirin to the water. None of these home remedies extend life; some shorten it. Clean cool water is what flowers need.
  • Topping up without re-cutting. The stem ends seal over within 24 hours of being out of water.

8. After-Bloom

When the arrangement reaches the end of its vase life, hang individual rose heads upside down in a dry, dark spot for 2 weeks — they dry into preserved florals that hold their color for years. Peonies do not dry as well; let them go gracefully.

9. Questions

If you have a specific question about an arrangement — a stem that arrived bruised, a vase that's leaking, a peony that won't open — write or call us. We respond within one business day.

And if anything ever arrives in a condition that does not meet your expectations, see our Return & Refund Policy — we make it right.