To seal this liquid in and make the flowers last, the ends of the stems should be held over a flame like a candle, gas jet or cigarette lighter. Hold the end of the stem over the flame for about thirty seconds until the end of the stem turns black. The flowers should be held on an angle to protect the delicate petals. Another method is to dip the stems in boiling water for about thirty seconds. Hold the flower heads away on an angle and protect the petals from steam by holding newspaper around the flowers.
Place stems immediately in warm water and give flowers a long drink before arranging.
If stems need to be recut later on when arranging flowers, you will need to repeat the above steps. To avoid this you could cut the stems to different lengths before sealing the ends of the stems. Bulb Flowers Certain flowers grow from a bulb. These include tulips, daffodils, jonquils, narcissus, irises and hyacinths. These flowers often have a white portion at the ends of the stems.