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When should I cut garden flowers?
The best time to cut flowers to bring indoors is the early morning. They will be well hydrated after a cool night and morning dew. As temperatures rise during the day, they will lose water and condition. Flowers cut in the middle of the day are at their worst and they won’t recover well in a vase. So for long life, don’t cut at mid-day.

If you want to cut flowers such as gladioli, stocks and delphiniums which have several flowers on a single stem, or cluster flowers such as lilacs and phlox, wait until a couple of buds are starting to open and show colour. If the buds are all tightly closed when you cut the flower, they won’t open in a vase.

Flowers that grow on individual stems, such as chrysanthemums and dahlias, should be open before you cut them.

Use clean, sharp shears or clippers to cut flowers. The sharper the better; household scissors do not normally have fine enough blades and will crush the delicate cells in the stem. This will adversely affect the ability of the stem to take up water.

As soon as you cut the flowers, place them in a bucket of water. It’s best to carry a bucket with you: just a few minutes exposure to the air will have a detrimental effect on your flowers’ ability to take up water, as the stems start to seal up.

Trim the stems of your flowers before placing them in the vase. Cut a couple of centimetres from the stem, at a 45 degree angle. This gives a larger surface area for water absorption. Remove any leaves or foliage that will be underwater, to help keep the water fresh. Don’t let your flowers remain out of water for more than a few seconds. Take them one at a time from your bucket, trim and place in the vase.

Home or garden?
Your garden is full of beautiful blooms – but you can’t bring yourself to cut them? It’s okay to do so – you will probably be doing your garden a service. Cutting blooms can encourage more flowers to grow so the flowering period may be extended throughout the summer, and possibly even into early autumn. It’s just like deadheading – by cutting the flowers, you will be delaying the formation of fruit. So, go ahead, cut some of those lovely flowers and enjoy the beauty and scent of your garden flowers inside your home, as well as outside.

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