3 Simple Tips to Help You Keep Your Flowers Alive Longer

Anyone who has a bouquet of flowers delivered or thrives in the garden understands the sadness that comes with dying flowers. This applies especially to flowers that don’t die naturally, but rather with the help of something else, such as an unwanted animal or your sweet child’s wandering hands and oh-so cute, “Oh no!” expression of horror as she mischievously rips the buds right off of your flowers while looking you right in the eye. If you want your flowers to live longer (don’t have kids), try a few of these simple tips.

Keep the Animals At Bay

If you have a problem with animals eating your flowers, try soaking a few towels in full-strength vinegar and leaving them discreetly covered in your garden. No one has to see them, but animals do not like the smell of vinegar and it will help deter them from snacking on your hard work and gorgeous landscaping.

Keep Decorative Flowers Alive

Anytime my husband sends me a beautiful array of flowers (which is often, I’m happy to say), I half love them and half dread the fact that it’s only going to take a few days before their beauty begins to fade and they start to die. The trick to keeping them alive a few days longer is to mix two tablespoons of vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar in the vase of water. This will help them live a few days longer so that you can enjoy the beauty of your flowers for a few extra days.

Hands Off

One way to help your flowers die faster is to touch them. The oils from your skin seep into the pedals and make them look dull and less attractive. I know it’s tempting to want to run your fingers over silky finish and smell the gorgeous fragrance, but keep your hands off.