How to make your flowers last longer

You've bought or been given a beautiful bouquet of hand-tied, fresh flowers. Now what? How do you make your flowers last longer?

Two key things will help keep your flowers looking at their best for as long as possible:

• Fresh Water
• Snip, Snip, Snip

Give your flowers fresh clean water every couple of days and when you change the water give the stems a snip (at a 45 degree angle). This reopens the stems and allows the clean water back into them.

At Jolies Fleurs we don't give flower food with our flowers, or suggest things like lemonade, but stick to these two simple things and you'll get the best out of your flowers.

Other tips to think about:

• If you are popping your flowers into your own vase rather than having them delivered in a Jolies Fleurs vase, don't forget to make sure the vase is really clean first. Bacteria and germs are not good for flowers, so start them off well!

• Don't forget to remove any flowers that have died from your bouquet, this allows those that are still beautiful to last longer and reduces bacteria growth in the water.

• We love having a selection of jugs and vases so that you can create smaller arrangements as some of the flowers come to the end of their vase-life. (If you don't have any then charity shops are our favourite for unearthing vintage bud vases).