Taking care of your flowers
Flowers and greenery are living things. The following suggestions will help ensure that your flowers have the longest life possible.
Placement: A vase of flowers should be placed in the coolest place possible, out of direct sunlight; which can cause wilting, bleaching of flower colors, and hastening of senescence (natural deterioration process) of flowers.
Place flowers away from fruits and vegetables laying out on a countertop. Ripening fruit and vegetables emit a naturally occurring plant hormone, called ethylene. As ethylene levels increase with ripening, it can trigger nearby plant life sensitive to ethylene to senescence (i.e. the natural death process) as well.
In addition, keep flowers away from heat registers and oil diffusers, which can reduce the vase life of flowers.
Water: Keep water clean. To avoid bacterial build up in the container, which reduces the ability of the flowers and greenery to take up water, change the water every 2-3 days. Some flowers, like zinnias and rudbeckia, tend to deposit dirt into the water. These hairy stemmed flowers hold a lot of dirt from the field that comes off when submerged in water. Some dirtiness is unavoidable, although a drop of bleach added to water can help clear it up. Special note: Zinnias are available throughout the summer; please change water frequently for zinnias as their hairy stems tend to deposit field material throughout their vase life which creates dirty water. If you have a water softener, use a different water source! Soft water will cause your flowers to wilt and die quickly due to the increase in sodium.
Stems: When you change the container water, also recut all stems to expose new stem tissue to water; helping to maximize the uptake of water. Recut stems with a sharp knife or scissors, and cut at a 45 degree angle to ensure that stems don’t lay flat on the bottom of the vase, which could impede water uptake.
Food: If you bought a wrapped bouquet, you also received a floral food packet. Use it. Tulips, and other bulb flowers, do not typically benefit with addition of flower food, and therefore, is not given with our bulb flower bouquets.
How long should flowers last?
Farm-grown flowers, raised & harvested by me. I conservatively suggest that my farm-grown flowers can expect to last an average of 5 days in a vase, although each type and variety will vary some. Vase life will be extended with proper care; changing water, recutting stems, and use of the floral food provided. Tulips, and other bulb flowers, do not typically benefit with addition of flower food, and therefore, is not given with our bulb bouquets.
Barclay Flower Farm’s policy. If you feel that the life of your flowers was not sufficient based on these suggested averages, please use the Contact Me feature on the top menu to contact me for resolving any issue. My goal is to provide you with the best possible experience, and I am eager to replace flowers that do not meet expectation. Although there are limitations to replacing flowers that were not cared for, I will do my best to educate and improve the next experience.
A word on safety and toxicity of flowers
All parts of the following plants grown at Barclay Flower Farm are poisonous: foxglove, lupine, delphinium and larkspur. Exercise caution around children and pets. In addition, tulips and lilies are poisonous for cats and dogs.
The purchaser assumes all liability relating to the use of this product. Barclay Flower Farm is not responsible for consumption or allergic reactions; including flower donation items.
Use of flowers for bakery decoration and/or consumption: Almost all plant types pose some degree of toxicity to humans and animals, depending on the amount and frequency consumed. Please use the Contact Me feature to contact me with specific questions regarding your intended use to incorporate purchased flowers for your cake decoration needs. You are at your our risk using purchased flowers in/on consumable items if you do not seek help from me prior to use; in addition, Barclay Flower Farm LLC is not responsible for consumption or allergic reactions; including flower donation items.
Safety for children and pets: Almost all plant types pose some degree of toxicity to humans and animals, depending on the amount and frequency consumed. In general, it is best to minimize the potential for children and pets to consume flowers by placing them out of their reach. In the event that children/pets consume flowers, seek help through poison control (children: Poison Control Hotline, pets: KSU Veterinary Toxicology Lab) Barclay Flower Farm LLC is not responsible the resulting impacts of consuming flowers by humans/animals. In addition, Barclay Flower Farm LLC is not responsible for any allergic reactions to flowers.
Field grown flowers and occurrence of arthropods
It is completely natural for an occasional arthropod (i.e. insects and spiders) to appear in field grown flowers. The occurrence of arthropods on outdoor grown plants is a sign that plants exist within a healthy ecosystem that does not regularly rely on insecticide sprays during the growing season. During harvest, plants are visually assessed and shaken to remove any arthropods. In addition, foraged wildflowers are submerged in water to remove tiny arthropods that are hard to see. If you are sensitive to the appearance of arthropods in your home that could have resulted from a bouquet, you may consider that before purchasing.
I am willing to work with customers on alleviating any issue that arises from arthropods occurring in my bouquets, within reason. Barclay Flower Farm LCC is not responsible for alleviating home infestation issues, as true home nuisance pests are different from those inhabiting flower crops; bouquets are not a meaningful source of home nuisance pests.
In addition, the arthropods present on bouquets are not harmful to humans. Ticks are the only field-sourced pest that pose a threat to humans. I work very hard to make sure no ticks are present on bouquets. That does not mean a 100% guarantee that ticks cannot come from bouquets; however the likelihood is rare given that ticks primarily inhabit grass species since their tarsi (i.e. feet) are specialized for holding onto grasses. If a tick is present in your home, it is more likely that it came from a pet, a person, clothing, etc., that was outside. Barclay Flower Farm LLC is not responsible for any tick-borne issues occurring in a customer’s home.