Tomorrow's a big flower holiday and as a former floral designer I have a few quick tips on creating a beautiful arrangement and making it last as long as possible:
1. When buying flowers individually, buy them by odd numbers.
2. In an arrangement, bunch similar flowers together.
4. Baby's breath is tacky. Use more interesting filler like lemon leaf, bear grass, snake grass, seeded eucalyptes, or bells of ireland
5.
If you're planning to give your Valentine flowers tomorrow and you
haven't bought them yet, don't get roses. They'll be incredibly
over-priced and all the good ones will be used in pre-ordered
arrangements early in the day and you'll just be left with shitty ones
that won't last through the night. Your best bet is to stick with pretty seasonal flowers
like tulips, daffodils, stargazer lillies, protea or my favorite, rannunculus.
6. Flowers live longer when they stay cool, so in the winter keep them away from heaters and don't be afraid to place them by the window.
7. Give flowers a fresh cut (about half an inch) and change the water everyday to make them last longer.
8. A single bloom makes a statement and looks beautiful on its own. If you can salvage one flower from a dying bouquet, give it a fresh cut and find a little bud vase (CB2 has some cute ones for less than 2 bucks) or another holder for it, like a wine glass or teacup. You can even cut the whole stem off and float it in a bowl.
