To keep cut flowers beautiful for longer, remember that they have been removed from their source of water, the root system, and will wilt quickly if not placed in water. There’s nothing like fresh flowers around the house whether they come straight from your garden or from a florist. Buying someone flowers is always a delightful gift, but usually ends up being shorter-lived than we’d like. When you take the time to put together an arrangement, you’d like it to last forever or at least for more than a few days! There are some things you can do to extend the life of cut flowers

Re-Cut stems

Re-cut stems on a slant indoors removing 1 to 2 inches at an angle under water to eliminate air bubbles that block uptake of food and water. You can also do this in a basin full of water, or even by holding the stem and the blades of the shears (or kitchen scissors) under running tap water. Certain types of flowers (including celosia, sunflower, and zinnia) benefit from scalding the stem ends in boiling water for 20 seconds or over a candle flame to stop nutrient-rich sap from oozing. To prevent decay, remove bruised leaves and foliage below the water line. Doing so will help the stem to be able to take water easily and also avoid air bubbles in the stem. Therefore extending the life of cut flowers.

Arrange flowers.

Arrange conditioned flowers in a vase of warm (48° C) water. To slow ageing, place the vase in a well-ventilated cool place (as low as 3° C). Don’t store flowers near unsealed fruits and vegetables, which produce ethylene, a gas that hastens to ripen, or in the case of flowers, ageing.
Add water. Freshly cut flowers have enough stored sugars to survive in a vase. But if you would like to add a preservative, try a homemade version.

Keep flowers cool.

The higher the temperature, the faster flowers will deteriorate, so it is advisable to cut them early in the morning, when temperatures are cool, and to avoid exposure to heat. Do put arrangements in a cool place overnight if you possibly can. Higher temperature causes cut flowers to wilt faster you, cool places help a lot in extending the life of cut flowers.

Change water.

Change the water every couple of days. In mixed bouquets, some of the flowers may give off sap that is toxic to other varieties in the vase shortening their vase life, a process that is avoided by frequently refreshing the water. Re-cutting will be done mostly when you are changing the water.

Keep in mind that flowers with hollow stems do not have a long vase life.

With this few tips, you will easily avoid your fresh cut flowers from wilting up quickly after receiving them. Increasing their vase life and be able to sale all your arrangements if you are a florist