CUTTINGS; Cold-Water Plunge Perks Up Cut Flowers (Published 2003) (2024)

I HAVE spent many a happy hour picking and arranging flowers. It is one of the most compelling reasons to garden. Thankfully, picking encourages flowers to rebloom. Left to their own devices, they quickly go to seed.

After gathering a handful of blossoms to brighten the dinner table, I like to turn to the new edition of ''Specialty Cut Flowers'' (Timber Press, 2003), by Allan M. Armitage and Judy M. Laushman. Dr. Armitage, a horiculturist at the University of Georgia, and Ms. Laushman, the executive director of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, are experts on how to prolong a bouquet's life.

Although written for the professional grower, their book offers revelations for the home gardener. Along the way, they debunk one myth after another.

One of the most surprising findings is that freshly picked flowers should be placed in cold water, not warm. With a few exceptions, warm temperatures rob the flower of food and water, often resulting in dehydration.

I cringe thinking of all the flowers I have unwittingly brought to a premature death. If I had applied common sense, I would have realized that just as jumping into a cool swimming pool on a hot day refreshes a gardener, a cold water bath revives a bloom.

Plunging flowers up to their necks in cool water quickly reduces the temperature of stems and petals, helping to assure that they are crisp. Indeed, low temperatures are the No.1 factor in extending a flower's life.

So the next thing to do is refrigerate flowers: holding them just above freezing for at least six hours before arranging them will triple their life span, the authors found. (Growers condition flowers this way before boxing them and shipping them, out of water, to floral markets around the world.)

Florists use warm water only for resuscitating wilted flowers, because warm water is absorbed quickly. For restoring wilted stems, hot water (110 degrees Fahrenheit) is recommended. For woody or badly wilted stems, very hot water (180 to 200 degrees) is better. Florists then move them into a refrigerator.

Despite all the handling, most cut flowers last for days after being arranged. Obviously, stay-at-home garden blooms, if properly treated, last much longer.

Just when I thought I understood the concept of cooling flowers, Dr. Armitage threw me a curve. Astilbe flowers last longer -- 12 days rather than 2 to 4 -- if placed in hot water first, allowed to cool down and then refrigerated.

Incidentally, placing flowers in water up to their necks is necessary only for cooling them; despite folk wisdom, they absorb relatively little water through their stems. There is an initial advantage in deeper water, Dr. Armitage notes, because it gives the capillary action a jump start. But after, say, six inches it is a waste of water and preservatives and can impede air circulation between the stems.

Here's another myth: long stemmed is better than short. Though long stems cost more than short ones, the longer the stem, the shorter the life span.

Dr. Armitage confirms that roses benefit from having their stems cut under water because it prevents air bubbles from clogging the stem and slowing the uptake of water.

And if their stems are recut under water every few days, they live longer yet. While recutting stems benefits all flowers, doing it underwater makes a difference only for roses.

The number of petals on a rose can also affect its longevity. Garden roses run the gamut, from species, with 7 petals, to the more refined hybrid teas, with 20 to 40, and on to cabbage roses, buxom beauties with more than 100 petals each. Despite their short lives, I will take the over-stuffed blossoms any day. They shed their petals with romantic abandon. It is a wonderful way to go.

MOST gardeners know the secret to prolonging the life of cut flowers is to remove all the foliage below the water line and quickly plop them into clean water. Bacteria, introduced by an unclean vase or rotting foliage, clogs stems, slowing the uptake of water.

If foliage rots under water, the flowers decay faster, and even the best smelling aromatic foliage produces a rank odor. Removing foliage above water reduces the water loss through transpiration.

Adding a floral preservative like Floralife prolongs the life of most flowers by discouraging bacteria and feeding the flowers. Herbaceous perennials benefit particularly. Pincushion flowers, which normally last 5 to 7 days, will last up to 12 days with preservative, as will gooseneck loosestrife, which normally lasts only 5.

Preservatives also help extend baby's breath, balloon flowers, cosmos, monkshood, Mexican sage, asters, ageratum and zinnias.

But tulips and daffodils could care less about preservatives, and the same applies to blooms from bulbs and rhizomes and those with hollow stems.

Tricks for lengthening the life of flowers are all well and good, but I must confess to often being short of time. Sometimes, I simply gather and drop flowers into water as guests are walking up to the front door. Even if they do not last any longer than after-dinner drinks, it is better to have flowers for even a moment than not at all.