Just as humans can’t live without food and shelter, flowers will not flourish if their needs are not met. Whether the flowers in question are a cut bouquet, a potted plant or a garden decoration, they will require some basic necessities to stay healthy and beautiful . By ensuring that they have these items, you can keep flowers alive and growing or increase the length of time that they grace your home as cut blooms.
If housed in an inhospitable environment, flowers will not survive. The elements that make up a hospitable environment vary from flower type to flower type. If trying to prolong the life of cut flowers, place them out of the sunlight and away from drafts, ensuring that they stay cool since a chilled environment allows them to flourish longer. If dealing with planted flowers, keepers must ensure that the flower is placed in a location that gets the ideal amount of sunlight for that plant — the required amount of sunlight varies from plant to plant. When plants are in soil, attention to pH balance is also necessary, as some plants require acidic soil, while others prefer basic.
All flowers, regardless of type, require water in some form, but the specific amount varies from plant to plant. For a long life, cut flowers must rest in a container of fresh water with a water level high enough to cover the exposed stem ends. When providing water to planted flowers, first determine how much water that type of flower requires, since some flowers do best when provided copious amounts of water, while others do better in dryer conditions.
Like humans need food to survive, flowers require nutrients for sustained survival. When flowers are planted in dirt they can often get these nutrients from the soil. If soil is low in nutrients, gardeners can provide extra help to their floral plants by feeding the flowers with fertilizer. Cut flowers cannot get nutrients without human intervention. To ensure that cut flowers have the nutrients they need to survive, add cut-flower-appropriate plant food to the water before placing the cut stems in the vase or container.
While some animals, such as bees, help flowers propagate, many animals are natural enemies of flowers. Animals that enjoy munching on blooms, such as household cats or garden-loving bunnies, often leave them damaged and certainly less beautiful than they were in their un-munched state. In addition to the impact that animal snacking has on flowers, this practice can also be dangerous for the animals themselves, since some flowers are poisonous to animals. If storing flowers indoors, take care to keep them out of the reach of would-be snackers. If flowers are planted outdoors, monitor the space, and intervene by building a fence or using a chemical deterrent if animals try to turn your flower bed into a roughage bar.