How to make your cut tulips last longer.
I love tulips, they are just the perfect quick ‘grab a bunch’ flower, synonymous with the arrival of spring and a failsafe way to instantly perk up a room and spark a little joy on a cold grey day. So many varieties and colours, browsing my wholesalers tulip list is like choosing sweets for me!
Like many soft-stemmed flowers, tulips have a vase life of between five and seven days - but they will last longer if you follow some simple care tips.
The main aim is to keep the water fresh and sterile as long as possible and minimise the risk of introducing any bacteria as this is what will shorten the tulip’s life.
Tips to make your tulips thrive:
Recut the stems at a 45-degree angle, which ensures the stems are exposed to the maximum amount of water ato rehydrate. Make sure there are no leaves under the water level. And do check your vase is super clean to avoid the introduction of any bacteria.
Tulips are a thirsty flower so make sure there is plenty of cool water in the vase and be prepared top up as necessary. It also helps to change the water every other day and recut stems at this point.
Allow space in the vase so they don’t get squashed: overcrowding can damage the stem and shorten the vase life.
Tulips are one of the only flowers to keep growing after being cut, so choose your vase carefully – a vase that covers at least half the stem length is ideal to stop them drooping if they do grow overnight (this can happen!).
If they do droop, this is usually down to an air block in the stem, i.e. the water is not reaching the flower (aka the head). You can try and rescue a drooped tulip by using the pin trick: this involves pushing a pin all the way through the throat of the tulip (approximately an inch from the bottom of the flower head) to release the air and recutting the stems again.
Tulips are phototropic – which means they grow towards the light, so don’t be alarmed if they bend into different contorted shapes as they seek light. I think this unruliness is part of their charm although if you disagree and like a straighter stem, you can rotate the vase to vary where the light comes from. In extreme cases, you can also try taking the tulips out of the vase and wrapping the stems quite tightly in newspaper in a cone shape so you encourage that straight shape you want. Then leave overnight in the dark and a little water and you should find the tulips have righted themselves when you unwrap the paper in the morning.
As with all cut flowers, do not place your tulips in direct sun, in a draft or next to a bowl of fruit, as some fruit produces a gas called ethylene which causes cut flowers to age more rapidly and wilt prematurely
And don’t forget – if one flower starts to die, remove it from the vase immediately as it’s thought that dying flowers release a bacteria as they wilt which can damage the others.
So if you only buy one bunch of flowers this month, make it a bunch of tulips!
And to see my wedding floristry work, please click here - there may be some tulips involved.
Rainbow themed tulips, bringing some much needed brightness during UK Covid lockdown number 3 (Jan 2021)
“Tulips are a reminder that even the smallest things can bring great joy.”
