Vase Arrangement Care
So you just opened up your Farmgirl delivery to find a pre-arranged, shippable vase arrangement, lucky you! It will take a little bit of prep to get the blooms and vase looking pristine, but we’re here to guide you through it with our best care tips for vase arrangements! Keep reading and we’ll get to all the flower FAQs so you know everything needed to keep your flowers fresh and thriving.
We ship your stems on the longer side to help keep the bouquet healthy during transit, but you’ll likely need to remove some length so they’ll fit nicely into the vase. So once you’ve removed your flowers and vase from the box, grab your sharp kitchen shears or scissors and give your stems a quick trim. As a general rule of thumb, we like to cut the stems so that the first blooms start ½” to 1” above the lip of the vase. Even if you like the height of your flowers out of the box, we still recommend trimming at least ½” off of the ends. This helps ensure your flowers can hydrate efficiently!
Fresh Cut
Pro Tip: Aim for a 45° angle. This provides more surface area for the flowers to drink from and prevents the stems from sitting flush to the bottom of the vase (where bacteria can build up).
Once you chop ‘em, it’s time to drop those blooms into the vase we shipped your arrangement with (after you fill it ¾ of the way with cool tap water, of course). Just before you lower the blooms fully into the water, use your scissors to snip the line of tape off of the stems. Release and admire! We shipped this arrangement designed and ready to go, but feel free to rearrange any flowers or foliage to your liking.
Everything in its vase!
We’ve carefully made, wrapped, and shipped this arrangement to you but flowers are flowers! See a broken stem? Not to worry! We always ship a few extra stems for these “just in case” situations. Once you trim and drop your stems into the vase, remove any broken or bruised blooms.
Pro tip: As individual flowers pass their prime, remove them from the bouquet to keep their vase mates fresh and looking their best.
Give it a zhush!
Your flowers will need a tall drink of water after the long trip! Just fill the vase with cool tap water and pop the stems in (after you’ve trimmed them of course)! Pro Tip: Change the vase water daily (or as often as you can possibly remember!). Water changes reduce bacterial growth which will help you to get the best bloom life from your bouquet.
H2-WHOA!
Ready, Set, Refresh! One of our most commonly asked questions for vase arrangements is “How do I change the vase water without messing up the design or losing flowers?” Here’s are three of our favorite ways:
Bring your vase arrangement to your kitchen sink. Carefully grab your arrangement with one hand (if possible), and use your free hand to dump dirty vase water into the sink. Refill the vase with fresh water and then carefully place your arrangement back in.
Working at your kitchen sink, outside, or anywhere else you can conveniently dump dirty vase water, gently push your stems to one side of the vase and tilt to allow the used water to spill out. Work slowly and be careful not to let any water drip onto the blossoms (especially if they’re white or another lighter color) because this can damage the petals. Once you’ve disposed of the dirty water, refresh your arrangement by pouring fresh water in via the same opening you made to spill out the dirty water.
If you have a detachable kitchen sink or shower nozzle, stick the head of the nozzle down into the arrangement and flush out the old water. Again, be careful not to wet the petals of any blooms.
Any of these should do the trick while keeping your blooms ASAP (as safe as possible!).