There's nothing quite like a fresh bouquet to lift a room — and with a little care, those blooms can keep looking beautiful for a week or more. As a Melbourne florist, these are the same simple habits we swear by to get the longest possible life out of every arrangement. None of them take more than a minute.

Start with a clean vase

It's the step most people skip, but it matters more than almost any other. Leftover bacteria in a vase is the number-one thing that shortens a flower's life. Give your vase a proper wash with warm, soapy water before you arrange, and rinse it well. A clean vase means clean water, and clean water means happier flowers.

Trim the stems — on an angle

Before your flowers go in the water, trim 1–2cm off the bottom of each stem with sharp scissors or secateurs, cutting on a diagonal. The angled cut gives a larger surface area for the stem to drink through, and stops it sitting flat on the bottom of the vase where it can't take up water. Re-trim every couple of days to keep them drinking freely.

Change the water regularly

Fresh water every two days makes a genuine difference. Each time you change it, give the vase a quick rinse and re-trim the stems. If your flowers came with a sachet of flower food, use it — it feeds the blooms and helps keep bacteria at bay. No sachet? A few drops of bleach or a teaspoon of sugar in the water can help in a pinch.

Keep them cool and out of the sun

Cut flowers last longest somewhere cool and bright but out of direct sunlight. Keep them away from heaters, air-conditioning vents and sunny windowsills, all of which dry blooms out fast. One surprising tip: keep flowers away from your fruit bowl. Ripening fruit gives off ethylene gas, which makes flowers age much more quickly.

Remove spent blooms and submerged leaves

Strip off any leaves that would sit below the waterline — underwater, they rot and breed the bacteria that clouds your water. As the days go on, gently remove any individual blooms that have wilted. This keeps the arrangement looking fresh and directs energy to the flowers still going strong.

A few flower-specific tips

• Tulips keep growing after they're cut and their stems naturally bend and curve toward the light — that's normal, not a fault. Keep them in shallower water.
• Roses love a deep drink; if a head starts to droop, re-cut the stem and give it a longer soak in fresh water.
• Hydrangeas absorb water through their petals as well as their stems, so a light misting can perk them up.
• Lilies last beautifully, but pinch out the orange pollen-tipped stamens once they open to avoid staining.

When they arrive fresh, they last longer

Freshness on day one sets the ceiling for how long your flowers will last — which is exactly why we arrange to order rather than in advance. Order by 12pm and we'll deliver the same day across Melbourne, Monday to Saturday, so your blooms arrive as fresh as they possibly can be.

Give these steps a go with your next bouquet and you'll be surprised how much longer it lasts. And when it's time for a fresh one, browse our latest bouquets — hand-arranged and delivered across 400+ Melbourne suburbs.