Flower Tips: Tulips

With the lengthening of days, our thoughts naturally turn to the arrival of Spring and warmer weather. Welcome Spring into your home with armfuls of tulips, beautiful blooming branches and fragrant hyacinth. The bright colors and luscious scents will brighten up even the snowiest of days.

Spring blooms, such as tulips, hyacinth and daffodils prefer cool water in their vases. Changing the water every day or so, and adding floral preservative will help them to last longer. Blooming branches, such as forsythia, quince, flowering plum and flowering cherry should be re- cut with sharp pruning shears and placed in warm water. To hasten the blooming process of forced branches, place them in a warm area, or you may place a plastic bag over them to create a"greenhouse" effect.

Tulips have a phototropic response, which means they respond to light. I always enjoy watching the tulips "travel", move around in the vase and stretch. It is a delight to see how they rearrange themselves from day to day. To straighten tulip stems upon arrival, we wrap the heads loosely in white tissue paper, recut them and place them in our cooler. The next day, we remove the wrapping, and -Voila!- straight stems. 

You can do this with the tulips you bring home, as well. If you cut fresh tulips out of your garden, wrap the heads loosely in tissue paper, making sure the necks are braced, re-cut the stems with a sharp knife and place in clean, cool water. Store them like this overnight in a cool place. In the morning, change out the water, re-cut the stems, and enjoy your beautiful tulips. 

*To prolong any cut flower change the water daily, and re-cut the stems using a sharp knife. Dirty water breeds bacteria, and will ruin the flowers quickly. Scissors can just crush or tear the stems, which will inhibit them from getting sufficient water.