Newborn Flower top

Caring for your Newborn Flower top

Keep this newborn arrangement somewhere cool and out of direct sun, away from draughts and ripening fruit, and top up the vase generously because the roses and hydrangea are heavy drinkers that wilt quickly once they run dry. Give the rose stems a fresh angled cut under water so they take up moisture freely, and mist the hydrangea heads lightly, since it draws water through its petals as much as its stem. Handle the gerbera by its straight stem and support it where it meets the vase rim, as it tends to bend and tire before the others. Leave the orchid and the feathery asparagus fern largely undisturbed, removing only any lower foliage that would otherwise sit below the waterline and cloud it.

A note on your specific blooms

• Amaranthus — Recut the stems at an angle and keep the water shallow, as amaranthus drinks heavily and the lower stem softens quickly when submerged too deep.
• Asparagus Fern — Mist the delicate fronds and keep them out of direct sun, as the fine foliage dries and yellows faster than the flowers it accompanies.
• Chrysanthemum — Chrysanthemum is sensitive to murky water — strip the lower leaves and refresh it often.
• Gerbera — Gerbera has fragile stems — use shallow, clean water and support the heads.
• Hydrangea — Hydrangea takes up water through its petals — mist the heads and keep the vase topped up.
• Lisianthus — Its stems are slender and easily bruised, so handle gently and recut at an angle before placing in clean, shallow water.
• Orchid — Keep orchid stems in cool, clean water away from ripening fruit, whose ethylene gas makes the blooms drop early.
• Rose — Roses drink heavily — re-cut the stems at an angle every couple of days.