When you have a beautiful vase of flowers bringing colour and fragrance to your room, you want to keep them at their best for as long as possible. We've put together a few tips that will help keep your flowers fresh and happy.

Carefully cut the stems at a 45 degree angle. It will stop them from sitting flat on the bottom of the vase and increases the surface area from which the flower can drink. Make sure you have sharp utensils for this job, ideally a knife or secateurs but very sharp scissors will do. Dull blades such as ordinary household scissors will squish the cells at the end of the stem, restricting their ability to take up the water.  

Get the flowers into your vase of fresh, luke warm water immediately otherwise their stem ends will seal up, also preventing water uptake. Waiting even a minute can be too long. Repeat these steps in a few days, including cleaning and refilling your vase with fresh clean water.

There are different commercially prepared powders available from your local florist but there are also favourite old fashioned ways to preserve fresh flowers including a dash of bleach or vodka to inhibit the bacteria. 

Bacterial growth increases from wet, rotting foliage and will shorten a flower's life so cleaning away lower leaves and any old blooms that end up in the water is very helpful. Likewise, it helps to keep the air around your flowers fresh and disease free so don't be tempted to squeeze too many into the vase. 

And remember that any unopened buds in your bouquet will also bloom more quickly when the flowers are kept happy - so a little effort to keep them fresh is well worth it!