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Flower Care Guide

Caring for Hand-tied/Wrapped Bouquets, Flower Bar Bundles, and Market Bunches

Whether you bought flowers from our shop, one of our partners, or the farmers’ market, follow the instructions below to ensure the longevity of your blooms. If you receive flowers from Brave Floral, immediately place them in water. There is a temporary, biodegradable stem wrap, or water pouch, on all bouquet deliveries, but this is a temporary means of keeping the flowers. Keep your flowers upright in transport to prevent water spill, and do not keep your blooms in the stem wrap for more than 2 hours.

Step 1: Choose a vase
Select a vase that is the height of the stems or shorter. The opening should allow the stems to sit sturdily in the vase, but not tight. We recommend about 3 stems per 1" D of a vase, but of course depends on the type of bloom since stem widths can vary.
Step 2: Prep your vase
Clean your vase with soap & water, then fill with clean, cool water. Make sure the water level is high enough so that each cut-end of the stem is submerged.
Step 3: Clean your flowers
Unwrap the bouquet. Clean off any excess leaves from the lower part of the stem that will be submerged in water. Leaves that come intact with water cause bacteria, and bacteria will make your florals perish much quicker.
Step 4: Cut your flowers: 
Snip at least 1/2” off the bottom of the stems with flower shears or sharp scissors. You may cut as much of the stem as you’d like, but we recommend a length that both allows the stem to hit the bottom on the vase, and the petals of the shortest stemmed flowers to hover over the edge of your vase. We like our flowers to sit at different heights as it allows each bloom to breathe. Have fun experimenting with different stem lengths!
Special considerations:
  • Poppies - After cutting, make sure you burn the bottom with an open flame for 20 seconds. There is latex that emits from the stem and will cause premature wilt.
  • Narcissus (Daffodils) - After cutting, leave in a separate vase on their own for at least 2 hours, then feel free to add into a vase with other flowers . Mixing with other stems after a fresh cut without isolating them for a few hours, will cause your other stems to perish quicker.
Step 5: Arrange your flowers: 
Immediately place flowers in the water-filled vase. Change the water daily to avoid bacteria build-up. You may even add flower food, or 2-3 drops of regular bleach to the water to help keep it clean.
Other tips: 
    • Keep your blooms away from direct sunlight, vents or heat to keep them looking their best.
    • Like anything else, flowers have different life spans. Remove expired stems as they occur.

Caring for Prepared Arrangements

Your florals have already been designed and arranged in a vase for you by one of our designers at our Maplewood shop. That's half the battle! Get the most out of your blooms by properly caring for them.

Maintaining clean water:
Flush the water in your vase daily. The easiest way to do this in an arrangement is by finding a small opening between the blooms (but not on top of the blooms), aiming the faucet in that area and slowly running cool water into the vase for 20-30 seconds. The old water will circulate out, and new water enters in. You may even add flower food, or 2-3 drops of regular bleach to the new water to help keep it bacteria-free. For these arrangements, you'll want to make sure that the water level is full inside the vase at all times.

Other tips:

    • Keep your blooms away from direct sunlight, vents or heat to keep them looking their best.
    • Like anything else, flowers have different life spans. Remove expired stems as they occur.
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