This spring took AGES to show up here in Northern Europe and today was the first actual spring day of the year. The non-hip hippies (OK, just me) took full advantage of it and went to Delftse Hout to enjoy the sun and gather some wild flowers. This is a very short post (because the sun is still out and as long as the sun is out I shall be outside as well) with instructions about how to harvest wildflowers and help them last for a longer period of time. Because -let’s face it- dying wildflowers are sad.

How to harvest:

-Do not cut more than 20% of the plants flowers and leaves. These are the plant’s tools of feeding and reproducing.

-Make sure you do not pull the root out of the ground. Use a pair of gardening scissors or a knife in order to make sure that you cut just the part that you need. If you pull the root out, you are a plant murderer and I don’t like you.

How to help them last longer:

No scientific explanation here. Just try those things out. They have been working for ages. Try one of them or a combination.

-Add 1 crushed aspirin in the water.

-Change the water daily and cut a tiny bit of the stem each day.

-Cut the stems in a 45 degree angle.

-Add a copper coin in the water. It does some weird chemistry stuff.

-Make sure only the stems are in the water, because the leaves will rotten and stink and will feed bacteria that will pollute the water.

-Add some sugar to the water, but change it daily because bacteria love sugar as much as plants do.

-Don’t put too many flowers in one vase.

-Use lukewarm water when changing the water of your flowers as cold water shocks them. It does!

-Don’t put your flowers in direct sunlight.

-Mist the flowers with water in the morning.

-Remove dying flowers. The ethylene that they emit will kill nearby flowers as well.

-Add a bit of bleach in the water (I don’t like this one, as it is far from natural, but if all else fails…)

-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar + 2 tablespoons sugar and into the vase water.

-Vodka. Just a few drops will keep the bacteria growth to a minimum.