Caring for your Rafia Bloom

Keep Rafia Bloom in clean, room-temperature water and away from direct sun and cooling drafts, both of which shorten the life of orchids in particular. The orchid stems are slender and prefer to stay consistently hydrated, so top up the water before the level drops too low rather than letting them run dry between changes. Anthurium is more forgiving but its glossy spathe bruises easily, so handle the blooms by the stem and resist the urge to mist them, since trapped moisture can mark the surface. A clean angled cut every few days and the removal of any cloudy water is really all this pairing asks to stay at its best.

A note on your specific blooms

  • Anthurium — Anthurium prefers warmth — keep it away from the cold and wipe the leaf gently.
  • Orchid — Keep orchid stems in cool, clean water away from ripening fruit, whose ethylene gas makes the blooms drop early.

How long your flowers last

Rafia Bloom is built from two of the longest-lasting cut flowers we work with, so expect this arrangement to hold beautifully for around 2–3 weeks with reasonable care. The anthurium and the orchid are well matched in longevity, which is part of why this pairing stays looking composed rather than declining unevenly. If anything begins to soften first it tends to be the most exposed orchid blooms toward the tip of the stem, while the waxy anthurium spathes are usually the last to fade and often outlast everything else in the vase. At Amicis we find the single most useful habit is to refresh the water every two to three days and re-trim the stem ends at an angle each time, which keeps both flowers drinking cleanly and extends the display well into that upper range.

The story behind these flowers

A closer look at the blooms gathered into this arrangement.

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.

Orchid

Origin

Tropical regions worldwide

Cultivated since

Prized in Asia for centuries; carried to Europe across the 18th and 19th centuries

Fragrance

Most cut varieties virtually scentless

Symbolises

Refinement, luxury & rare beauty

Among the largest plant families on earth, orchids took root across the tropics of Asia and the Americas, cultivated in Asia long before reaching the West. Victorian collectors then chased them across the globe, fuelling a famous European craze. Their arched stems and sculptural blooms bring quiet architecture to an arrangement, holding their form for weeks where softer flowers fade.