The number one question we get from followers and customers is:
“How do I make my flowers last longer?!”
And we get it, who wouldn’t want that beauty to last forever? For years, we believed that all you needed to do was switch out your vase water for fresh, cool water often - no fancy tricks or additives needed, but we got SO many people swearing by bleach, vodka, flower food, a penny, etc. We’d never actually tested any of these methods until finally one day we said - enough is enough - and so we did! We got our science fair vibes on to really get to the bottom of this once and for all.
In true science-fair-vibes-style, we’re gonna break this down with the good ol’ scientific method:
Hypothesis: “We think adding nothing to the water, and changing out the water for fresh, cool water daily will make flowers last the longest.”
Experiment: We actually did this experiment twice! Same question and hypothesis, but because we are florists and not scientists, we learned a lot the first time around and wanted to refine our process. Not to mention, we still had a lot of challenging opinions and additional questions after the first round, so more testing was needed!
Experiment One:
In our first experiment, we tested 8 different variables:
Fresh water changed daily
Fresh water (no change)
Water with bleach
Water with flower food
Water with sugar
Water with lemon soda
Water with vodka
Water with a penny
Observe + Record: We documented the experiment with a series of videos and pictures daily, and compiled them into a story on Instagram.
After three days, we had our first change with bleach water. The stems started to turn white and the flowers began to wilt. Around day 5, the flowers in the vase with lemon soda started to tarnish, mold appeared, and the water became extremely murky. The next change was the most surprising - the flowers in the vase with flower food began to wilt! Flower food is the thing people swear by the most, so we couldn’t believe to see such a negative change so quickly. Water with sugar was next, and there was an interesting reaction - the snaps actually stretched and grew as if the sugar was giving them energy! This looked promising, but eventually the flowers in the sugar water vase gave out before other additives. Flowers in the vodka water vase started to wilt around day eight, and then the vodka vase and sugar vase stayed pretty neck in the neck for the remainder of the experiment. The last changes were seen in the water with penny, the same water that had not been changed, and finally - fresh water changed daily!! After 10 days, the flowers in the vase with fresh water changed daily were by far the healthiest!
Results: Switching out the water in your vase daily extended flower life the most, and kept flowers the healthiest!
Analysis: A few additional notes about how we ran this experiment.
We did NOT change the water in the vases with the additives because that technically would have been two variables, not one.
We did NOT cut the stems of any of the flowers for the same reason as above (we were isolating one variable in this experiment); however, cutting the stems about half an inch every day or two would be helpful in extending flower health.
We made sure none of the flowers were in direct sunlight or in the path of a heating or air conditioning vent.
We used a mix of different types of blooms with different vase-life expectancies to see how they all fared.
Our followers are incredible and we got such great response! Among the responses, we got a resounding two:
We used too much bleach (1-2 teaspoons in our vase was far too much).
Would switching out water AND adding a penny be even better than just fresh water changed daily?
This brings us to experiment two! As mentioned previously, we started with similar guidelines, but the question had been slightly tweaked.
Hypothesis: “We think adding nothing to the water, and changing out the water for fresh, cool water daily will make flowers last the longest.”
Experiment Two:
In this experiment, we tested 7 different variables:
Fresh water changed daily
Water - no change
Fresh water changed daily with a penny
Water with a penny - no water change
Water with bleach - no water change
Water with vodka - no water change
Water with sugar - no water change
Based off the feedback we received last time, we added only 1/4 teaspoon of bleach, and exactly 1 teaspoon of vodka and sugar to the water.
Observe + Record: We documented the experiment with a series of videos and pictures daily, and compiled them into a story on Instagram.
It takes about 3-4 days to see any sort of change at all. On day 4, we saw our first change which was in the water itself. In the vases with sugar water, vodka water, and water with a penny that had not been changed, the water became murky and mold started to form. By day 5, mold had started to form on the top of the water in every vase except the two that we were being changed out daily. On day 7, the roses in all vases except the two receiving a fresh water change every day started to sag and wilt. By day 10, most of the flowers in the vases without a fresh water change were wilting and dying, but the two with a fresh water change looked surprisingly healthy - 10 days in!!! Because it was clear at that point, the other five vases were no longer going to beat either of the fresh water changes, we removed them completely. From there, we compared the vase with fresh water changed daily and the vase with a penny and fresh water changed daily. On day 12, although it was still close, we noticed the flowers in the penny vase were tarnishing a bit more than the flowers in the vase without the penny. Then sure enough, on day 13, the snapdragons in the vase with the penny wilted in half even though the water had been changed out daily along with the other vase without a penny.
Results: The flowers in the vase that had NO additives, and had the water switched out daily yielded the healthiest flowers and the longest vase life.
Analysis: A few similar notes from our first experiment.
We did NOT change the water in the vases with the additives because that technically would have been two variables, not one.
We did NOT cut the stems of any of the flowers for the same reason as above (we were isolating one variable in this experiment); however, cutting the stems about half an inch every day or two would be helpful in extending flower health.
We made sure none of the flowers were in direct sunlight or in the path of a heating or air conditioning vent.
We used a mix of different types of blooms with different vase-life expectancies to see how they all faired.
Final Thoughts + Conclusion:
Cut, fresh flowers typically last five to seven days - some hardier blooms last closer to ten, some more fragile and dainty blooms last closer to three. **make graphic.
We had a lot of questions along the lines of, “well what if you add this, and then change this, and then every third day, double this - what would happen then??” And here is what we have to say:
It is very possible that switching out water daily, and adding a certain additive daily, and trimming your stems daily, and placing the arrangement in your refrigerator nightly could extend the longevity of your flower vase life. BUT, if just switching out the water each day helps so much that it makes it possible to get nearly two weeks out of your fresh flowers, isn’t that enough?
Part of what makes fresh flowers so special is the fleeting magic of their existence. Especially some of the most unique and captivating blooms that we strive to include in our arrangements!
If you value longevity over all else in your flowers, we suggest sharing that with your florist so they can select blooms accordingly. You can also try dried + preserved flowers - those literally will last for.ev.er.
So there you have it, Wild Flowers! Two experiments, several variables, and loooooot of Insta-story slides later, the proof is in the… water. Fresh water changed daily is all ya need!