KEEPING FLOWERS | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Jul 22, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 28.

KEEPING FLOWERS.

A GREAT deal has been written on the preservation of cut flowers, but the matter is still imperfectly understood by most people. It is important to know, not only how to take care of them after being cut, but how to cut them. On this latter point a practical hint may be of service to our readers. It might not occur to them that it made any serious difference whether the stems were broken off or cut with the knife or scissors. A sharp knife is the right tool for this purpose, as it leaves the sap vessels of the stems open for the absorption of water, while scissors crush and compress these vessels so that their absorptive power is more or less destroyed. Like injury may be done by breaking off the stems, especially if they are tough. If the flowers are put into water immediately the ends of the stems should be cut with a sharp knife, as the sap vessels will probably have become clogged with coagulated matter.

Cut flowers often suffer from too dry atmosphere. It is difficult to avoid this in our artificially-heated rooms, but we may at least put the blossoms in the coolest part of the room. Near a window, and especially in a bay-window, the temperature is generally several degrees lower than in other parts of the room, as you will see if you test it with a thermometer. The best authorities say, moreover, that the flowers should have the benefit of light, and even of sunshine in most cases, though there is popular prejudice against exposing them to the latter. On the other hand they suffer, as plants do, from sudden alterations of temperature and from draughts.

In the case of the blossoms that fall to pieces easily, it is a good idea to let fall a drop of gum or mucilage into the center, which will keep the petals together at the base. To prevent this from running out before it hardens, the flowers should be kept upright by putting their stems through the bottom of a sieve or sticking them in sand. With the aid of a camel's hair brush or a pointed stick a large number of flowers may be gummed in a short time.

When flowers have been carried a long distance in close boxes or cases, they often appear withered and worthless, but with proper treatment they may be revived and restored to their original beauty. Instead of at once being put into vases and exposed to the hot dry air of the parlor, they should either be spread out on wet flannel or moss and covered with a dish cover or inverted box, or else put in pans containing moss and water or wet sand, in which they can be set upright, and then be shut up in the dark for a few hours. If they do not regain their freshness under this nursing there is no hope for them, but in all ordinary cases their recovery is certain.—Journal of Chemistry.