Have you have been truly spoilt this Valentine’s with a gorgeous bouquet of bespoke flowers from Magnolia the Florist? We hope you adore your romantic flowers from your local florist in Kettering! We wanted to share some our floristry tips and easy steps to help keep your blooms looking beautiful for longer.

Step 1 Unwrap

As soon as possible, carefully remove any packaging, string and protective wrap around the flowers.

You should also find nestled in your flowers a hand-tied tag, which has a little guide on what packaging is recyclable and how easy it is to do. Wherever possible Magnolia the Florist use bio-degradable and recyclable packaging for our flowers – we are dedicated to making small changes to help our planet.

Step 2 Prepare

Next up, it is time to prepare the new home for your romantic flowers!

• Find a good size vase or container for your flowers
• Give the vase a quick rinse with soapy water to remove any bacteria
• Fill the vase half to two thirds full of room temperature water
• Add the flower food provided by Magnolia the Florist to the water

Step 3 Remove

Some flowers (roses in particular) often have guard petals on arrival – which are left on to protect the delicate blooms during the journey. These can easily be removed once you are ready to display the flowers at home. Simply gently peel the guard petal away from the flower.

How to spot a guard petal: Guard petals are outer petals that aren’t quite as perky or colourful as the rest of the inside petals. Don’t worry, these guard petals are normal and once removed will reveal the full inner beauty of the flower!

Step 4 Snip

Use a pair of sharp scissors to carefully snip about 2cm from the bottom of each stem at a 45 degree angle. Hold the stem up against at the vase and remove any leaves or thorns on the stem that will sit below the waterline.

This helps gives the stem plenty of surface area to absorb water, and removing the foliage helps stop it decomposing sitting in the water and bacteria forming.

Step 5 Display

Arrange the flowers in the vase, placing stem by stem to build up your vase design. All that is left to now is find the perfect spot to display your gorgeous new flowers! To help decide the best place florists recommend the following for flowers:

• out of direct sunlight
• away from chilly drafts
• not next to heat sources like radiators or log fires
• avoid putting near ripening fruit (fruit releases a gas as it ripens, which can cause nearby flowers to wilt more quickly!)

Step 6 TLC

Every couple of days do a maintenance check on your flowers; top up the water level if its running low, change the water if it is looking cloudy and remove any dead or wilting leaves. This TLC every 2-3 days will help your beautiful flowers from Magnolia the Florist look magnificent for as long as possible.

From all the team at Magnolia the Florist, we wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day!