Caring for your Bouquet No. 1925

Keep this bouquet in clean, cool water away from direct sun and ripening fruit, and top the vase up daily, because the roses and hydrangea are heavy drinkers that wilt quickly if they run dry. Give the hydrangea a deep drink and the occasional misting of its head, since it takes up moisture through its petals as much as its woody stem, which benefits from a fresh slanted cut to keep it open. Handle the gerberas gently and support their hollow stems, as they bend and bruise more readily than the firmer allium and anthurium beside them. Trim the snapdragons and alstroemeria a little shorter as their lower blooms fade, and pinch off any spent chrysanthemum heads so the remaining flowers keep their share of the water.

A note on your specific blooms

  • Allium — Change the water often and keep it fresh, as Allium stems can release a faint onion odour into the vase.
  • Alstroemeria — Strip any lower leaves below the waterline, as its foliage wilts well before the blooms and clouds the water.
  • Anthurium — Anthurium prefers warmth — keep it away from the cold and wipe the leaf gently.
  • 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.
  • Rose — Roses drink heavily — re-cut the stems at an angle every couple of days.
  • Snapdragon — Trim the stems on a sharp angle and refresh the water often, as snapdragons drink heavily. The florets open from the bottom of the spike upward, so pinch away the lower blooms as they fade to keep the spire looking fresh.

How long your flowers last

Expect this mix to hold for roughly 5 to 14 days, shifting in character as the shorter-lived blooms pass first. The hydrangea and roses fade earliest at 4 to 7 days, with the gerberas close behind at 5 to 8 as their soft stems tire. The architectural flowers carry it longest, with anthurium standing 2 to 3 weeks and allium and alstroemeria reaching the two-week mark, while chrysanthemums and snapdragons bridge the middle. The most useful habit, and one we rely on at Amicis, is a fresh diagonal cut with a full water change every two days to keep the thirstier flowers drinking.

The story behind these flowers

A closer look at the blooms gathered into this arrangement.

Allium

Origin

Central Asia, the Mediterranean and the temperate Northern Hemisphere

Cultivated since

Ornamental use spread through Europe from the 1800s

Fragrance

Faintly oniony, otherwise clean

Symbolises

Unity, patience & strength

A member of the onion family, the Allium opens into a perfect sphere of tiny star-shaped florets held high on a bare stem. That clean geometry brings rhythm and altitude to an arrangement, drawing the eye upward and lending structure to softer, rounder blooms around it.

Alstroemeria

Origin

Andes of South America

Described

By Linnaeus, 1762

Fragrance

Virtually scentless

Symbolises

Friendship, devotion & prosperity

Named for Swedish botanist Clas Alströmer, who sent its seeds to Linnaeus from South America in the mid-18th century, the Peruvian lily is no true lily at all. Its speckled, orchid-like throats and many-headed stems lend an arrangement quiet movement and an unusually long life, which is why it threads through so much of what we build at Amicis.

Anthurium

Origin

Rainforests of Colombia & Ecuador

Documented

By botanists in the 1870s

Fragrance

Virtually scentless

Symbolises

Hospitality, confidence & beauty

The anthurium's glossy, sculptural 'bloom' is in fact a modified leaf, with a poised tropical architecture few flowers can match. It lends Amicis designs a clean, modern edge — and one of the longest vase lives in the bouquet.

Chrysanthemum

Origin

East Asia — China & Japan

Cultivated since

Over 3,000 years in China

Fragrance

Soft, earthy and herbal

Symbolises

Longevity, joy & well-wishing

One of the oldest cultivated flowers, prized in China and Japan for three thousand years and honoured with its own festival. Its dense, textured heads bring depth and a long, dependable life to an arrangement.

Gerbera

Origin

South Africa

Described

By science in 1889

Fragrance

Barely scented, lightly fresh

Symbolises

Cheerfulness, warmth & innocence

The gerbera daisy brings open, sunlit colour and a graphic simplicity to a bouquet. Native to South Africa and loved worldwide, its clean single bloom adds brightness and a friendly, contemporary note to Amicis designs.

Hydrangea

Origin

Japan & the Americas

Cultivated since

Reached European gardens in the 1700s

Fragrance

Very light, fresh and green

Symbolises

Heartfelt emotion & gratitude

Named from the Greek for 'water vessel', the hydrangea carries full, cloud-like heads that shift colour with the soil — from blush and cream to deep blue. Its generous volume gives Amicis bouquets their soft, romantic fullness.

Rose

Origin

Asia — China, Persia & the Mediterranean

Cultivated since

Over 5,000 years

Fragrance

Warm and sweet, of honey & tea

Symbolises

Love, gratitude & admiration

The most storied flower in the world, grown and gifted for five millennia. Its layered petals and soft scent have made it the universal language of affection — and the quiet anchor of almost every Amicis arrangement.

Snapdragon

Origin

The western Mediterranean

Cultivated since

For centuries in European gardens

Fragrance

Soft and faintly sweet

Symbolises

Grace, strength & resilience

Named for the hinged bloom that opens like a dragon's mouth when pressed, the snapdragon climbs its stem in a tapering spire of colour. The florets open from the base upward, so the spire is always part open, part bud — a vertical line that gives an arrangement its height and architecture, drawing the eye upward and lending Amicis bouquets a quiet sense of movement.