My mom told me to always cut stems underwater, but a class in Portland changed my mind.

She swore it kept flowers fresh longer, so I did it for years. The teacher said for woody stems like lilac, a sharp cut in air and then straight into warm water works way better. Has anyone else found that old tip doesn't work for everything?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara_palmer2mo ago

Your mom was onto something. Cutting underwater stops air from getting into the stem's veins, which is a basic fact for a lot of common flowers. That Portland class gave advice for one specific type of stem, but throwing out the old rule because of lilacs seems short-sighted. The classic method works for most things from the grocery store or garden, so why fix what isn't broken?

jade32mo ago

Wait, you took a flower class in Portland?

the_jason1mo ago

Portland class sounds like it was way too specific lol. The old trick works perfectly fine for 90% of the flowers people actually buy. Overcomplicating it just makes people feel like they need a degree just to keep daisies alive.