The Sauk Centre herald., 1935-07-11
PAGE FIVE

moisture to flowers and foliage.
Most Of the ordinary precautions
are as follows:
Cut flowers early in the morning
or late in the day when stems are
turgid. A sharp knife is better
than pair of shears. The sharper
the cut, the less the bruising of
the conducting vessels, the great
er the absorption or water. Lack
of ragged edges hinders bacterial
action. Plunge stems deeply into
water up to the base of the flow
er. Arranging should be postponed
until stems are thoroughly soaked.
The proper stage of development
should be selected: gladioli, when
the first floret Is open; roses, be-
fore buds open; dahlias when full
ly open; poppies, the night be-
fore they open.
| Keep flowers in humid room,
never in sunshine. This reduces
the evaporation to minimum.
Flowers keep well at As degrees
F. If kept cooler than that at
night, the lasting quality is inn
pared. Use containers that per-
NIT free entrance of air through
the top. For this reason, narrow
necked vases should be avoided
for most flowers. Cut stems and
change water daily. Make a slant
ing cut to prevent ends from rest
ing squarely on the bottom. All
leaves that may be submerged,
should be removed to prevent de-
composition and fouling the wa
ter. This is especially true with
outdoor flowers, such as zinnias
and asters.
Wood plants should have their
stems slit and the bark peeled
back for at least one inch. Chry-
santhemums, lilacs, and similar
flowers benefit by this treatment.
ment.
Many claim that plunging stems
of poppies, dahlias, heliotrope and
mignonette into hot water will
! cause them to last much longer.
The stems are immersed into boil
J ing water for a minute, and then
plunged into cold water. This is to
seal the ends of the conducting
vessels, prevents downward flow
of sap, and permits absorption Of
water through the outer surfaces
| of the stems. Care must be taken
to keep steam from the flowers or
; or they will turn brown. I have
never tried this, but it seems
worthy of experiment. Burning the
ends of Iceland poppy stems with
match, have found to prolong
their life very nicely.
. Some flowers require special
treatments to prolong their life.
Violets will keep well out of wa
ter, If wrapped in waxed paper
and laid on ice. Lily-of-the-Valley
should be wrapped in wax or tissue
: paper while in the refrigerator.
Snapdragons and carnations keep
better out of the refrigerator. Wa
ter lilies must be kept from clos
ing by pouring a. few drops Of
, paraffin into the heart of the flow
er. The paraffin should be just hot
enough to flow, or it will damage
the flower. A few drops of gelatin
dropped into the heart of a poppy
flower Is said to increase It's llfe
by several days.
Some have tried various chemi-
Gals to prolong cut flower life.
Charcoal, camphor, salt, ammonia,
: listerine formaldehye when used in
: very small quantities have been
: found useful to help keep contain
ers clean and prevent bacterial
!, action but the period of prolonged
life is not great. Boric acil, used
at the rate of one-half teaspoon
full to two quarts of water in
crease the life of carnation from
three to seven days, and repeated
trials seem to show that during
the time, the flowers can be kept,
that there is no need of cutting
the stems, nor of changing the wat
er. A half tablet of. aspirin is
said to be helpful to prolong life
of dahlias and chrysanthemums.
Use this amount to two quarts of
water. Asters are said to last just
twice as long if teaspoon of su-
gar Is added to each quart OF wa
ter.
Use some of these ideas at our
next annual flower show at the
fair.