Your flowers arrive ready.

Straight into water with flower food, arranged on the day

Stems are already stripped and cut at 45°, so there is nothing to prepare. Tip the full contents of the enclosed flower food envelope into a clean vase of cool water, stir briefly, and place your flowers straight in. These are cut to order and best arranged today.

The enclosed flower food is Chrysal Professional 3: a professional-grade formula containing a sugar, an acidifier, and a biocide. The biocide suppresses bacterial growth at the cut surface from the moment your flowers go into water, so add it when you first put them in.

Position deliberately: heat and fruit are the main culprits

Direct sun and heating vents accelerate water loss and petal deterioration. The fruit bowl is less obvious but equally significant: ripening fruit releases ethylene gas, which actively degrades petals. It’s a biochemical response, not just a cautionary note. A cool spot away from the kitchen fruit bowl makes a measurable difference in vase life.

Fresh water and a trim every 2–3 days

Empty the vase fully, re-trim each stem by about a centimetre to expose fresh vascular tissue, and refill immediately with cool water and flower food. Add the flower food at the same time as the fresh water, not after. Rinsing the vase each time removes bacterial build-up that shortens vase life faster than most people expect.

Topping up between changes: plain cool water is fine. The full refresh, meaning empty, trim, refill with flower food, is what keeps stems taking up water effectively.