Yes, but it also injures the flower. The flowers will try to heal themselves by forming scabs over the injury, making it impossible to absorb water through the scab.

Almost right. The flower food provided with your flowers contain three elements essential to flower longevity. First, there is a bleaching agent which kills the bacteria harmful to your flowers. Next, there is a sugar solution, which feeds the bloom while in the container. Finally, there is acid, which raises the pH level of the water. While aspirin contains the acidity and soda pop contains both acid and sugar, only flower food contains the proper mix of all three essential elements.

Flowers are too expensive to only last a day or two. With proper care, fresh flowers should last one, two, or even three weeks depending on the type of flower. So let's take that long list of instructions...in order!

A dull cut will harm the flower, causing the stem to form the scab mentioned above. We cut on an angle so the stems at the bottom of a vase will still have an open surface for water absorption. A straight cut would mean the stem lays perfectly flat, with no available water inlet. An under water cut avoid air bubbles which may otherwise form. An air bubble in our flower stem may cause blockage, so that our flowers can't suck up water. This is why some flowers die quickly, by bending at the neck (just below the bloom).

Darn near! The optimum conditions for flower storage is at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius (36-46 degrees Fahrenheit), including a high humidity condenser unit. Just to prove a point, I once placed a dozen vased roses on a top shelf because they hadn't sold. I did not re-cut the stems nor change the water...and after 5 1/2 months I still had a live rose in the vase...with a 4 inch shoot starting to grow!!! Think of flowers like you would milk...the cooler you keep it the longer it lasts.

I don't think so, Tim. Let me see...take the heat and radiation from the t.v., add the direct sunlight from the window...hmmmmmm. Remember, temperature is key to the life of a flower so keep them in a cool place. Another thing to remember is to avoid fruit and cigarette smoke, as both generate ethylene gas which kills flowers. One other thing is to consider placing your arrangement outside over night, it will add days to your flowers with the cooler temperature!

Some flowers can handle "desert" conditions better than others. Carnations for example may only need to be wrapped in a wet newspaper to last for 3 or 4 hours. Roses on the other hand, are extremely thirsty. They require water tubes if they are left dry for more than an hour. You can see the result when you get your roses home...they absorb half the water in the vase in the first day. Floral coolers make the flowers think that they are dormant...while room temperature wakes them up. Once awake, they're awfully thirsty!

The leaves are the dirtiest part of a flower, carrying chemicals and bacteria used in the growing process. While the bleaching agent in the flower food can remove some of the contamination, we want to avoid poisoning our blooms. On the other hand, thorn removal has the same result as stem-smashing...both will cause a scab