Beautiful Azaleas
Azaleas are just beautiful this time of the year. We have some on the front of our house and this year I thought I would cut some and bring them. Azaleas won’t last long as cut flowers for sure, but they are just so pretty I had to try.
Cut Flowers
I learned a lesson from an expert florist a few years ago about cutting flowers. He said to never pound the stems of cut flowers. Before learning that, I had always thought that you were supposed to smash the stems so they would take up more water. Not so! Flowers have a vascular system too! Anything that you do that damages that vascular system will inhibit the uptake of water.
Fresh flower stems do need to be cut if they have been left out to dry for 30 minutes or more. Because once the flower stems are cut, they begin a healing process just like if you received an injury to your skin. The healing process starts to seal the cut area over and this decreases the uptake of water.
Making a fresh cut in the flower stem allows for better uptake of water. If they have been in a vase for a day or two, recutting the stems will allow for more uptake. Cut stems at an angle, instead of straight across to allow for more surface area to take up water. Trim stems from flowers you have purchased.
Cutting Azaleas
It’s a given that azalea as cut flowers won’t last long inside, but you can enjoy them for 2-3 days. I love to place some in different areas of the house and to just enjoy the blooms as long as they last. It’s not much trouble to step outside and cut a few every day or so and I get to enjoy them longer that way))
Azaleas in Vases
My azaleas are dark pink….or that’s what color I think they are)) My husband says they are red. Now I wish I had paid more attention to them when they were planted. I think they may be Encore Azaleas, but I’m not sure.
One of the azalea bushes didn’t make and we replaced it with what I thought was the same kind of bush, but it’s blooming on a little different schedule. It could be just that the bush hasn’t matured as much yet.
This is one of my favorite white stoneware pitchers. Carrie gave it to me a few years ago. I love the simplicity of it. No matter what you put in it….it looks good)))
The bathroom counter is another favorite place I like to tuck a small arrangement of azaleas as cut flowers. Now, granted, no one really ever sees this but me, but isn’t that what fresh flowers are all about? For one to enjoy themselves whether no one else sees them or not! My desk is another place I like to put fresh flowers. I like to use just a small glass container and keep things simple.
Here’s a little short video that shows you how I use azaleas as cut flowers for a small vase. These were azaleas with short stems and you know how anything with short stems will fall of out a container. Here’s a fix!
Flower Food
Another tip to make any cut flower last longer is to use flower food. There are recipes out there for homemade flower food, but your best bet is probably the packets that you can purchase at places like Walmart.
Summary
Well, maybe I’m not the only one who enjoys a small container of flowers on my desk!
I don’t know if Browser is wistfully admiring my azaleas and hoping for me to finish this blog post so we can go outside for a walk!
What’s your favorite cut flower? I’d love to hear from you))
5/9/22 Update
Here’s a pic of the azaleas in the first vase, four days later. You can see how much water they had taken up, but still looked good! Faded just a little, but still pretty. I tossed them on the 4th day only because we were going out of town. Now that we have returned home, my azaleas in the yard are gone, so that’s all I’ll have for this year. But next year, I’m going to start cutting them early and bringing bouquets into the house)))
