Caring for your Vera 01

Vera 01 brings together thirsty and delicate blooms, so keep the vase generously filled and check it daily. The roses and lily drink heavily and will droop quickly if the water runs low, while the hydrangea needs both a deep drink and an occasional misting of its petals, since that is where it takes up much of its moisture. Handle the ranunculus and scabiosa gently, as their slender stems bruise and bend easily, and give the woodier rose and chrysanthemum stems a fresh angled cut so they can drink freely. Lift any lily pollen away from open petals to keep the blooms clean, and move the whole arrangement out of direct sun and away from fruit to slow the fade.

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.
  • 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.
  • Fern — Keep fronds out of direct sun and mist them occasionally, as ferns lose moisture through their leaves faster than most cut greenery.
  • Hydrangea — Hydrangea takes up water through its petals — mist the heads and keep the vase topped up.
  • Lily — Gently pinch out the orange pollen-bearing anthers as blooms open to protect petals and linen from staining.
  • Orchid — Keep orchid stems in cool, clean water away from ripening fruit, whose ethylene gas makes the blooms drop early.
  • Ranunculus — Cut the hollow stems straight across, not at an angle, and keep water shallow and fresh, as these stems sit soft and bruise or rot easily when submerged too deep.
  • Rose — Roses drink heavily — re-cut the stems at an angle every couple of days.
  • Scabiosa — Its slender stems are thirsty and bend easily, so keep the vase well topped up and give them a clean diagonal recut every few days.
  • Tulip — Tulips keep growing in the vase and lean toward light, so use a tall, supportive vessel and turn it daily to keep the stems straight.

How long your flowers last

With this many varieties sharing one vase, expect roughly 5–7 days of full beauty from Vera 01, with the longest-lived stems carrying on past a week. The hydrangea, roses, scabiosa and tulips are the first to soften, the hydrangea especially since it draws moisture through its petals as much as its stem and can wilt before the rest. The anthurium and orchid hold longest at two to three weeks, with chrysanthemum and fern not far behind, so the arrangement gracefully thins to its sculptural blooms over time. Amaranthus, lily and ranunculus sit in the middle of the range, lasting around a week to ten days. The single most useful habit is to recut every stem on an angle and refresh the water every two days, which is how the Amicis team keeps a mixed bouquet looking composed for as long as possible.

The story behind these flowers

A closer look at the blooms gathered into this arrangement.

Amaranthus

Origin

Tropical Americas (Andes & Mesoamerica)

Cultivated since

For thousands of years by Andean & Mesoamerican peoples

Fragrance

Virtually scentless

Symbolises

Immortality, unfading love & endurance

Grown across the Americas for millennia as both grain and ornament, amaranthus is best known for its long crimson tassels that spill downward in soft, trailing ropes. Its name comes from the Greek for unfading, a nod to blooms that hold colour and form even as they dry. In an arrangement it adds movement and weight, draping over the edge of a vessel to break a clean silhouette and lend an Amicis piece an unhurried, sculptural fall.

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.

Fern

Origin

Worldwide, in shaded woodlands and wetlands

Recorded

In the fossil record for hundreds of millions of years

Fragrance

Faint and green

Symbolises

Texture, depth & natural movement

One of the oldest plant lineages on Earth, ferns flourished long before the first flowering plant unfurled. In an arrangement their feathered, architectural fronds soften hard edges and lend a quiet woodland depth, the green foil that lets Amicis blooms read clean and considered.

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.

Lily

Origin

Temperate Northern Hemisphere, richest in East Asia

Cultivated since

Over 3,000 years across Asia and the Mediterranean

Fragrance

Sweet and heady

Symbolises

Purity, devotion & renewal

Few flowers carry their architecture as openly as the lily, its petals curving back from a clear, sculptural throat. Painted on the walls of the Aegean Bronze Age more than three millennia ago, it has long stood for purity and devotion. In an Amicis arrangement a single stem sets the height and rhythm, its buds opening in sequence over days.

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.

Ranunculus

Origin

Eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia

Reached Europe

In the 1500s, via Ottoman gardeners

Fragrance

Faint to virtually none

Symbolises

Charm, radiance & allure

Each bloom holds dozens of tissue-thin petals layered into a near-perfect sphere, a structure that opens slowly from a tight bud into something almost rose-like. That gradual unfurling makes Ranunculus a quiet anchor in an Amicis arrangement - sculptural when closed, generous and full once it relaxes open.

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.

Scabiosa

Origin

Mediterranean and Eurasia

Cultivated since

In European gardens for centuries

Fragrance

Soft and honeyed

Symbolises

Pure love, sympathy & remembrance

Named for its old herbal use against skin ailments, Scabiosa is better known today as the pincushion flower, for the fine protruding florets that stud its domed centre like pinheads. On slender, wiry stems it brings airy movement and a quiet textural detail that lifts an Amicis arrangement beyond its focal blooms.

Tulip

Origin

Central Asia, long cultivated across the Ottoman world

Cultivated since

The 1500s in Europe

Fragrance

Faint and fresh, often nearly scentless

Symbolises

Perfect love, elegance & spring renewal

Native to the mountains and steppes of Central Asia and prized in the Ottoman court, the tulip reached Europe in the 1500s and later fed a Dutch trading frenzy in which the rarest bulbs could rival the price of a house. Its clean, sculptural cup and quiet colour make it a study in restraint - a flower that keeps growing and bending toward the light long after it is cut, giving any Amicis arrangement a living, unhurried grace.