Monday, February 15, 2010

Tips and Tools: Flower arrangements


Cut flowers are a popular gift around Valentine’s Day and do a lot to bring a temporary surge of color and freshness to a space. From a keeping-organized perspective, I like them because they are consumables and as such as preferable in some ways to a living plant. Here are some tips to extend the life of your flower arrangement. 
  • Depending on the flowers, recutting the ends of the stems when you put them in water helps, as does flower food and using warm water. 
  • Don’t forget to keep the water level up, and for most arrangements, replacing the water entirely every other day is a good idea. 
  • For a mixed bouquet, once the weakest flowers start to die, pull them out and separate the rest of the flowers by type into smaller vases. Then position those in strategic areas around your home. The large bouquet that could only be enjoyed when in one area of your house then becomes a small vase of tulips for the kitchen, greenery for the coffee table and orchids for your nightstand.
  • Put a penny in the bottom of a vase of tulips to keep them perky.


Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

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