Bulk Flowers

FLOWER PREP & CARE

Follow these pro tips for unpacking and preparing your new blooms.

You've received your fresh cut flowers and greens From 

Edmonton Wedding Flowers. 

Now it is time to get all the flowers rehydrated and prepared before creating your arrangements. 

This ensures that they are in prime condition on the day of your event!  

They'll need trimming and cleaning to make sure they fully rehydrate and continue blooming to make the longest-lasting, stunning arrangements possible.

Please do not leave the flowers in the box until you intend on making arrangements; get them out of the box and in water right away!

Prepare Water Buckets

Gather enough buckets to hold all of the flowers and greens you ordered without over crowding. 

Thoroughly clean the buckets with soap and water to remove any contaminants and rinse well. 

Put lukewarm water in your buckets and mix the recommended amount of floral food or preservative into the water.

To speed up flower opening, use slightly warmer water (NOT hot!) To slow opening, use cooler water (NOT freezing!)

Unpacked all the flowers, and cut the stems with floral shears or a floral knife.  

Make the cut at least an inch above the bottom of the stem at a 45-degree angle. 

This will ensure that you have removed any plugging in the bottom of the stem, once again opening pathway for water take-up.

Once all the flowers are cut, you can put the flowers in your warm water and floral preservative. 

Make sure that there are no leaves at the bottom of the stems or touching the water.

 - those leaves will absorb water, die, and create bacteria in the water that can reduce the vase life of your flowers.

After all your flowers and greens have been placed in water, put the buckets in a cool (not cold) room out of direct sunlight.

Fresh cut roses require some additional care during the preparation process. 

In addition to cleaning lower leaves and making a clean cut on each stem, 

roses should be de-thorned and have their guard petals removed before arranging.

To remove thorns manually, gently push each thorn from its side to pop it off the stem. 

Be careful not to prick your finger! You may find it helpful to put a bandage on your thumb to protect it.

Remove Guard Petals

You may be unhappy to see that the outer petals of your roses may look bruised or damaged. This is intentional! 

These are called “guard petals”, which growers leave on to protect the inner flower head during packing and transit. 

To remove the guard petals, gently pinch the base of the petal and pull away from the head. Some varieties have few guard petals, others have more.