How to Pick the Right Flowers for Valentine's Day (and Avoid Killing Them)

Flowers are one of the most common Valentine's Day gifts but hard to choose well. Additionally, you often have to pick them up in advance and ensure you don't kill them while you wait to give them to your significant other. Fortunately, a few tips and a little know-how can prevent a floral disaster this Thursday.

So what do you pick for Valentine's Day? Floral service H.Bloom has a few suggestions:

Obviously roses are a go-to varietal for the season, but items like tulips, anthurium, and amaryllis are also great in-season additions to Valentine's Day arrangements. Genestra, Oriental Lilies, Stargazer Lillies, Hyacinth, and Garden Roses pack a fragrant punch similar to roses.

If you're worried about killing flowers, picking ones that last awhile should help them stay alive a bit longer even if you're terrible at caring for them. H.Bloom suggests "war-horse" orchids, tropical flowers, and alstromeria if you want a flower that'll last. Regardless of what you get, however, you'll want to watch out for harmful bacteria:

The number one killer of flowers is bacterial ingestion, and in order to prevent this the water needs to be kept clean on an ongoing basis. To avoid bacterial ingestion, you should change the water every day or every other day and frequently rinse and recut the stems. Additionally, you can add a teaspoon of bleach to the water to kill bacterial growth. This will work for most stems except for dutch hydrangea, which has a negative reaction to bleach.

A lot of thought goes into beautiful floral arrangements, but these tips should help you at least pick out something basic and keep your flowers strong and nourished through Valentine's Day and beyond.

H.Bloom

Photo by Robert Couse-Baker.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/mfDbwLDW-BI/how-to-pick-the-right-flowers-for-valentines-day-and-avoid-killing-them

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