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Can you revive flowers


How to Revive a Dying Bouquet

There are several ways to revive your fading bouquets.

colorful flower bouquet

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Flower bouquets fade—it's simply inevitable. But extending the life of or reviving a wilted arrangement is possible, especially if you start with blooms that can go the distance. "It's really wise to choose seasonal flowers, since they're suited to your climate," says Robin Hilleary, the founder of Fleurotica, a New York-based floral studio. "If they're local and seasonal, like dahlias in the fall, then they're going to have a longer vase life. They haven't had to travel on planes or been dipped in crazy chemicals."

There are other ways, beyond choosing hardy cut varieties, to ensure your bouquets last. For example, be sure to place your arrangement in the best setting to prevent wilting. If you've noticed that a vase of stems is starting to droop or wilt around the edges, it might be getting too much sun or heat, notes Hilleary. "A lot of people are under the misconception that flowers—once cut—behave the way a living plant would. That's just not the case," she explains. "They're not photosynthesizing once they've been snipped. They're comparable to a vegetable or an herb at that point. Keep them away from the windowsill and direct sunlight, and close to the air conditioning in summer and away from the heater in winter." But what more can you do for a bouquet that's showing signs of decline? Here, we share how to bring your arrangements back from the brink.

Change the water and wash the stems.

Stopping a bouquet's decay process means keeping a lookout for bacteria, which can get into the water and infect your stems. If this is happening, the water will be slightly discolored. "I always say keep the water fresh enough that you would want to drink it yourself," says Hilleary. "One of the other most common things people will send me is pictures of an arrangement asking why they're drooping and when I look at the bottom there's an inch of brown water. Keeping the water fresh—I say change it daily—is best." The best course of action? Empty the vase and wash it thoroughly with dish soap, before refilling it with clean water. Before you place florals back into the vessel, wash the stems and recut them.

Feed the flowers.

When flowers show true signs of fading, changing the water might not be enough. Adding a little sugar to nourish the stems, however, might help revive them. Commercial plant and flower food is available at most flower shops; little packages often come in bodega and supermarket flowers, too. In lieu of those, you can also make your own version using Sprite and water in specific parts. "To one gallon of water, add one 12-ounce can of any brand of a clear lemon-lime soft drink," notes the Floral Design Institute. "The sugar will provide food for the flowers and the citric acid will lower the pH of the water."

Add bleach.

If there is already bacteria in the water supply, however, sugar won't help—but adding a small amount of bleach can actually disinfect the bouquet. Bacteria causes blockages up the lengths of the stems, which prevents water from traveling up to the bulb; when bacteria gets there first, decay begins. "Another reason for water not being able to pass through the plants is due to a bacterial infection affecting the 'open wound' where it has been previously cut," explains a representative from The Bouqs Co. "This can be especially prevalent when adding sugar or plant food, which bacteria thrive on. To keep your flower safe from an infection, add a small amount of bleach—one teaspoon to a quart—to ward off nasty microbes. As it is well-diluted, it won't harm your flowers."

Remove decaying stems.

Obviously, any bouquet will eventually start to die, even when kept in the best of conditions. As your flowers fade, however, revive what's left of your arrangement by plucking out the decaying stems, which can spread bacteria to healthy ones. Hilleary recommends removing the dying florals one-by-one over time to prevent this. "If you pull the dead stem, it's not allowed to pass bacteria onto other stems. This way, you can keep the whole thing rolling for a few weeks," she advises. "If you take out things as they go, you'll be left with a few beautiful stems."

How to Revive Dead Flowers

By

Olga Oksman

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You are walking home from work when you pass the loveliest hydrangeas. At $6 for two stems at the local bodega they are a steal and impossible to pass up. You bring them home, plunk them in a vase with some water and forget about them for a couple of hours. Next thing you know, the perfect little blue petals are curling in, the whole thing is drooping and the perky flowers you bought just hours ago are rapidly dying.

Your Flowers Are Zombies

Well, sort of dying. Whether or not your cut flowers are living or dead is a matter of debate. Since it is not clear which one they are, you can sort of see them as zombies, not really alive, but not dead either. Under the right conditions they can be kept in a sort of zombie state for a week or two, long enough to decorate the coffee table and make you smile.

Flowers wilt for a simple reason: there is not enough water getting to the plant. When newly purchased flowers start to wilt soon after you buy them, chances are water is not able to get into the stems. There are a few simple steps you can take to help the flower drink again and revive. You can’t keep them fresh forever, but if they wilt prematurely, you can bring them back from the brink, no mouth-to-mouth or midnight sacrifices at the cemetary required.

Reanimate Your Blooms

Step 1: Recut the stems. Most often what happens is the bottom of the stem gets dried out and is having a hard time absorbing water. So take a very sharp scissor or knife and cut at an angle, to provide as much surface area as you can for the flower to drink up. This will also allow the flower to stand on point in the vase, helping water enter the stem. To increase the surface area even more, split the stem an inch or two from the bottom with scissors or a knife.

Step 2: Use warm water. Another way to open up the stem and make sure water is getting absorbed is to use nice, lukewarm water in place of cold. There are certain types of flowers that can’t tolerate warm water well, like tulips, but most flowers can tolerate some warm water in the vase. Warm water moves up the stem faster and can help clear any blocks in the stem that might be stopping it from absorbing moisture. Just don’t make it scalding or hot, simply turning on both the cold and hot taps on the kitchen sink to get a pleasantly warm temperature will do it.

Step 3: Spike the water with a little life juice. If you live in a city peppered with bodega flower sellers like New York, you are probably familiar with the little black packets of flower food that they tape to the bouquet wrapper. That mystery powder is magic. It does wonders to extend the life of flowers and help starving flowers revive.

Fortunately for those of you who don’t live near a bodega, that mystery flower food is also really simple to make at home. It is a combination of three simple ingredients: sugar, an acid like lemon juice, and a drop of bleach. The sugar provides the flower with food. The acid lowers the PH of the water, which helps the water travel faster up the stem. The bleach, which sounds scary to put into flower water, is there to prevent bacterial growth that might form more quickly because the water has sugar in it. Since only one teaspoon of bleach goes into an entire quart of water, it is not concentrated enough to hurt the flowers. (The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a great recipe on its website for a homemade version along with some additional flower-keeping tips.)

Step 4: Wait. It is going to take the flowers at least a few hours to drink in the water and turn back into their happy zombie selves.

Step 5: Repeat as necessary. Since the flowers wilted in the first place, keeping them alive through the week may necessitate recutting the stems every couple of days—cut about half an inch off the end to ensure the flower has an open pathway to drink. Change the water if you see it start to get a little dull or cloudy, making sure to put in fresh flower food each time. Try not to keep the flowers in the sun in a baking apartment during the summer. If you have them sitting on a sunny windowsill, move them somewhere shady and cool in the house when you’re not home enjoying them.

How long your flowers will last after you revive them will depend on a number of factors like the genetics of that flower, how long ago it was cut, and how warm it is in your house. There is a reason florists often keep the expensive flowers in a fridge—colder temperatures slow down the flowers’ deterioration. Think of it like suspended animation for your already zombified flowers.

In case of emergency: If your flowers are very dried out and look like they need immediate critical care, try submerging them in a big bowl or bucket of room temperature water for 30 minutes to an hour to jump-start their water drinking process. You can even leave them in water overnight, though they should perk right up after an hour. After you remove them from the water, follow steps 1 through 3 above.

tips and tricks to make flowers last longer in a vase

Do you dream of keeping a fabulous bouquet of roses fresh for several weeks? We tell you how to prolong youthfulness of flowers!

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Fresh flowers delight and sad at the same time, because their beauty is so fleeting. But there are great ways to keep the bouquet in its original form longer.

Contents of the article

According to florists, these delicate flowers can stand in a vase with water for two to three weeks, and with proper care, even about a month! How to prolong the life of roses, keep a bouquet of roses fresh for a long time at home? We share a few simple life hacks for those who want to admire a bouquet of roses for as long as possible.

How to preserve cut roses in a bouquet: preparation in 3 steps

  1. An artificial microclimate is created inside the flower package, so it is important not to open it as long as possible in order to allow the roses to “recover themselves” after transportation. This is the main secret of how to keep a bouquet of roses at home: if you remove the packaging too early, the flowers will quickly wither.
  2. Do not immediately immerse the stems in a vase of water: first dip the flowers in a bath of water at room temperature so that the roses are saturated with moisture. At the same time, leave flowers and buds on the surface so that moisture does not get into them: this is fraught with decay. of course, the water in the bathroom must be clean, no bath bombs or foam.
  3. Wrap rose heads with paper or place on a small platform.

How to keep a bouquet of roses in a vase with water for as long as possible

How to keep house roses in a vase

House roses need not only proper storage, but also proper cutting so that they can stand for as long as possible.

Basic rules for cutting domestic roses:

How to keep roses in winter

In winter, roses have to endure strong temperature fluctuations. To reduce stress for plants and keep the purchased bouquet of roses at home for as long as possible, take care of them in a special way.

How to keep roses in water longer using folk recipes

The mechanism of action of any substance that prolongs the life of roses in a vase is water disinfection. The product kills the microflora that breeds in a humid environment, thus maintaining the "sterility" that roses are very fond of. How to keep roses longer so that he continues to delight you with his beauty? Add any handy disinfectant to the water!

After water disinfection, we also advise you to take care to saturate the microflora with nutrients for flowers. You will be surprised how long you can keep a bouquet of roses if you provide flowers with nutrition.

How to keep a bouquet of roses longer: 10 life hacks Having received flowers as a gift, first shorten the stems. This should be done no more than a centimeter. Make an oblique cut using a very sharp knife (a clerical knife will do) or scissors.

Remove the bottom leaves

Remove the bottom leaves of purchased roses before storing them. This will allow roses to spend less nutrients to maintain life. Cut the leaves no higher than two-thirds of the length of the entire stem. If there are withered leaves, you also need to get rid of them. The main thing is not to injure the stem.

Avoid bad neighborhood

Keep roses away from vegetables and fruits. This is especially true for bananas, tomatoes and apples. The fact is that the fruits, when ripe, emit ethylene, which accelerates the drying of flowers. So, you will have to abandon the creation of fruit and flower still lifes if you want roses to stand in a vase longer.

Prepare the water

To keep the roses in the vase longer, you should carefully consider the choice of water. It is better to put the flowers in a liquid that has been filtered or settled for two hours, in which the content of salts and chlorine is reduced. Water should be changed every day, adding "feeding" from our list. In summer, roses will last longer in slightly chilled water, and in winter in liquid at room temperature. Fill the vase without reaching 5 centimeters to the edge.

Soak roses in water

Before storing a bouquet of roses in a vase, put them in a bucket or bath with water to "lie down" for 40-60 minutes. Such water treatments will help roses regain their freshness.

Take care of the flowers

To keep roses in an attractive condition, you need to perform some simple manipulations to care for them. Trim the stems and yellowed leaves regularly, but do not touch the thorns. If the roses begin to wilt, soak them again in water, as indicated in the previous paragraph. It is also recommended to irrigate the flowers with water from a spray bottle. If you follow these rules, you can keep a bouquet of roses at home for two to three weeks.

Choose the right place for the vase

If you had a celebration and the guests presented a lot of bouquets, try not to put them close to each other. Roses do not like neighborhoods with other flowers. They especially dislike carnations, lilies of the valley, and lilies. By the way, this should be taken into account when you yourself pick up a bouquet in the store, since it will not be possible to keep the purchased roses along with lilies and other "enemies" for a long time.

Extend the life of fading flowers

When the flowers begin to fade, they can be revived with the help of a homemade "greenhouse". Put a plastic bag on each bud or wrap them with cling film, leave overnight. The next morning the roses will look much better and you will be able to keep the bouquet of roses at home longer.

Give roses a steam bath

Not everyone knows how to keep roses in a bouquet if they have already begun to fade. Here's another way to save a drying bouquet - put the stems in a container filled a couple of centimeters with very hot water with a small amount of glucose (you can dissolve ordinary sugar in water). Before this procedure, cover the buds and leaves with a paper bag so as not to damage them with hot steam. Hold the flowers in the steam bath for a couple of minutes and then take them out. Cut off the lower part of the stem, which has changed color from hot water, with a knife and move the roses into a vase with cold water. Temperature fluctuations help remove excess air from the stems, slowing down the wilting process. After such shock therapy, the flowers will last longer.

Dry the buds

If you don't want to part with the roses, dry them. Just hang the flowers buds down when they have lost their freshness. Drying in this position, the plants will retain their shape. A simple secret of how to keep a bouquet of roses not just for a long time, but almost forever.

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We have figured out how to “revive” Compote, Shortbread and Caramel

The Animation Department of CTC Media has created the first AR universe in Russia. Colleagues "revived" Compote, Korzhik and Caramel - perhaps the most popular cats among children today. Read more about the project in an interview with Alexey Kozyakov, Head of Digital at CTC Media.

— Tell us exactly how the audience can “revive” Compote, Korzhik and Caramelka?

— The mechanics are simple: we place a QR code on the package with a toy, the buyer points the phone at this QR code, follows the link and sees the heroes of the series on the screen. In fact, having bought a toy, you can "revive" Compote, Korzhik and Caramel anywhere. Some packages also have special QR codes that can be used to launch one of the five games in augmented reality.

— What is the purpose of the AR Universe? Promote the cartoon?

- No, we use other tools for this purpose - for example, we buy ads and show cartoons on TV and YouTube. The AR-universe helps to make itself known in the market of licensed products, attract potential Licensees and increase sales by adding additional value to the product.

— And why augmented reality?

- This is a cool way to add value to our products. If, as a child, I was offered to “revive” the hero of my favorite cartoon and take a picture with him, I would be in seventh heaven with happiness. True, I feel about the same emotions now, because augmented reality as a tool for promoting an animation brand in Russia is a new direction that is only gaining momentum. Glad to be among the pioneers.

— What exactly did you do on the project?

— Everyone from idea to implementation: initiated a project, launched a tender, chose a contractor, agreed on a concept, came up with scenes and games, launched a landing page for partners. Of course, my colleagues helped me at all stages, both from the side of the holding and from the side of the contractor.

— How long did it take from the approval of the idea to the appearance of the first package with a QR code on the store shelf?

— The idea appeared in September 2021, in two months we held a tender, agreed on the concept and started development. Scenes and games were ready in April, and the first toy hit the shelf in July.

— Only two months to approve the idea?! Are all projects in NMG launched so quickly? Or is your example an exception?

- Perhaps one can say that the stars converged in this way. And people :) Everything in our holding depends on the employees who launch the project. The brighter they are on fire with the idea and the more motivated, the faster the process goes. I really wanted to implement the project as soon as possible - and everyone agreed to meet me. For example, despite the fact that augmented reality is a new area for procurement, colleagues quickly got involved and launched a tender.

— Are there many contractors in Russia who can implement an augmented reality project?

- In fact, there are very few of them, 3-4 agencies. Our contractor - phygital publishing house Devar - is the most advanced company. Many developers can create augmented reality using the application, but this option did not suit us. We wanted buyers to be able to open the QR code and play scenes in the browser. It's more difficult. And only Devar is doing this at a high level in Russia.

— What difficulties did you face during the project?

- We are still facing: not everyone understands how to launch augmented reality. It happens that people do not realize that they need to take the camera away after launching the link in the QR code browser. Sometimes the link does not open the first time for users of outdated Android models. We are working on problems that can be solved - we are improving the augmented reality interface, reworking the instructions.

— So the project is not finished yet?

- Of course not! Moreover, the process is not completed not only in the field of development. For example, so far only a part of our partners have placed QR codes on the packaging, because we do not glue them, but print them on the packaging itself. This takes time.

— Is the AR universe your favorite project?

- One of two. I am as proud of them as I am of the Three Cats game. Finance for Children”, which we developed together with the portal “Financial Culture”

— Why?

- These projects are going beyond the standard tasks of a digital specialist. When I tell my friends what I'm doing, their jaw just drops.

Published by "National Media Group"

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