HOW NOT TO KILL YOUR BOUQUET

 

Whether you’ve put a ring on it, you’re brightening up your gaff or stumbling about barefoot with flowers in your barnet - all three preferably, here’s how to stop your flowers going floppy.

THE BOUQUET

Freshen up...

Replace your water every 2-3 days, or whenever it gets a bit murky. You wouldn't wanna hang around in grubby water either!

Snip snip!

When changing the water, give your stems a little snip to encourage drinking. Diagonal snips are the most effective. For woodier stems, cut up into the stem too.

Play it cool... 

Pop your arrangement in a shady and cool spot - bright sunlight and too much heat will make your blooms go bust way quicker, like putting your frizzy hair in a monsoon.

Hairspray... 

Just a puff on the undersides - like blasting your armpits on a morning.

Keep away from your fruits! 

Fruit blasts out something called ‘ethylene’ which ages your bouquet faster than one of those foil things your Mum had in the 80’s.

 

What other bits and pieces can you do with your blooms?

 

THE HIPPY HEADDRESS

Braid wisely...

Unless you’ve got costume changes like Gaga, you want flowers with staying power - proper bruisers! Delicate guys like poppies and sweet peas are a fat NO for your bonce, but we like to shove these hardasses in our locks: waxflower for endurance; ranunculus for colour; and jasmine for scent.

THE BUTTONHOLE

Around the gaff...

We’ve actually been foraging around our gaffs for buttonholes. The asparagus fern has been used by the Irish for years: it’s sexy, feathery and doesn’t droop on you; succulents do the trick and are ‘button-shaped’ already; and the foliage on our fave house plants is often as tough as boots and highly decorative, snip off some painted-leaf begonia or prayer plant and wack it by your hanky.

 

TOSSING PETALS AT BEDS AND BRIDES

Throw with abandon…

Rose petals are good but we’ve tried shaking a few other boughs... Right now the cherry blossom is waiting to be lobbed on your bed or at a passing bride; get out your loppers and shake it like a polaroid picture. Crush lavender flowers in your palms and get thousands of sweet purple love bombs to chuck at the aisle - this one’s not recommended for a sexy night in, unless you’re into heavy snoozing (happens to us all). In the summer bash sticks of lupins and delphiniums for rainbow showers. Hours of fun.