The summer is upon us! For us at Amelia’s, that means our flower trucks are out in full force all over the Nashville area. It’s also no secret that Nashville summers bring some sunny, hot and humid weather, which tends to take a toll on fresh cut flowers. We wanted to equip you with some good practices and care to help you prolong the life of your flowers in general, but can be especially vital in the hot, summery months of the year.
Fresh Flowers are a MUST!
Amelia’s does what we can to ensure that you and/or your recipient are getting the best and most fresh products possible. We source as many of our flowers as possible for both our trucks and shops from local flower farms, so that we are not only supporting our neighbors and community, but also so that you are receiving a product that was freshly picked merely days prior. It’s a signature of ours to then wrap your hand-picked bouquets in brown paper, twine, and seal it with an Amelia’s sticker- all more sustainable than plastic.
Not going home right away?
We find that sometimes, people are concerned that they’re not going straight home after they have picked their wrapped flowers. This happens often, especially when you spot us amidst your errands and activities of a busy day, but it shouldn’t keep you from stopping at our trucks or shops. We suggest that with the wrapped bouquets, be mindful to not leave them sitting in a hot car or in direct sunlight. If you’re going inside to eat or shop for a relatively extended period of time, you might want to consider bringing them inside with you. Ideally, the stems should be in water as soon as possible once they’ve been cut, but if you can obtain a paper towel, you can dampen it and wrap it around the stems to give your sweet blooms a little drink through the day and hold them over until they can be placed in a more permanent solution.
You've bought a bouquet as a gift and want to keep it wrapped!
Say you’re intending to gift your hand-picked bouquet to a special recipient, more than a few hours later in the day. We love to see it! If you’re only able to control one condition for your flowers, try to find a cool area, away from direct sunlight to keep them in until it’s time. They’re harty and should be able to sustain themselves without being placed in some water for a couple of hours, should they be kept cool. But if they are starting to look droopy and possibly a little wilted, then by all means, give them a good drink. If you want to preserve the brown wrapping while still watering your flowers, you can unwrap the bouquet, fold the brown paper in half, into a triangle, then re-wrap the flowers by placing them in the middle and folding in both sides. Head over to our wrapped bouquet tutorial here
Water, please!
Once your flower friends have finally reached their destination, it’s time to give them the full service. Unwrap your bouquet and trim the tips as close to a 45 degree angle as possible. This is done to help provide the stems with a larger surface area, keep them from resting on the bottom of the vase (and to avoid bacteria build-up) as well as open up the cauloused ends to overall, help them consume more water. Fill a vase with fresh water, full enough to ensure that the flower tips will be fully submerged even after the water level lowers from a good drink. Arrange your flowers in a manner that pleases you. Finally, place them in a relatively cool area with little to no direct sunlight. Unlike growing flowers attached to the original plant, cut stems don’t quite fare well with direct sunlight or extreme heat- it’s a little too harsh for them. If you can, try to remember to change out the water regularly and remove any rotting stems to avoid bacteria buildup. At that time you can also trim the stems again to make sure that they’re able to continue taking in as much water as possible, but that’s not completely necessary.
There you have it! These are some of the general practices, we ourselves implement, with great success. We hope that with these tips and care, your flowers from us will not only last a notably long time, but bring you joy and happiness along with them!
We hope to see you soon!
XX,
Amelia’s