As the sunny weather brings out vibrant blooms and luscious leaves in my garden, I find myself fighting the urge to bring every single one of them indoors so I can enjoy them all day long.
Fortunately, I know that would be excessive, but that doesn't stop me from bringing some of them inside. Cutting fresh flowers from my garden and moving them into vases around my home is one of my favorite things to do in the summer. After all, why would I spend money on bouquets when I've got my own flower shop waiting in my garden?
But, I've learnt some hard lessons along the way, mainly when it comes to inviting bugs into my home riding the petals and stems of the flowers I want to enjoy. To avoid common mistakes, here's 5 top tips for bringing fresh flowers indoors.
1. Choose the right time of day
While you can cut fresh flowers from your garden at any time of day, there's definitely moments that are better than others. First thing in the morning or in the late evening are two of the best opportunities you have and there's a couple of reasons for that.
Firstly, you're doing it before it gets too hot or when the sun is cooling down. This way you're giving them a better chance of not wilting too quickly from the loss of water.
Secondly, insects aren't as active as these times of days so it's less likely that you'll be bringing them indoors.
2. Do as much of it outside as possible
When it comes to cutting fresh flowers, of course you'll be doing it outside at first, but you'll want to spend a bit more time out there then you might initially think.
This tip is a catch-all for the other tips I'm about to cover, too, meaning you should do pretty much all of the work outside. This will ensure you give any insects and pollen time to drop off in the best place – rather than inside your home.
3. Strip the lower leaves away
As you'd do with any shop-bought flowers, it's best to strip away the lower leaves from each stem. When you buy them, doing this avoids the leaves stagnating and rotting in the water.
When you're cutting them from your garden, this is also the case but with the added benefit of getting rid of any insect stragglers clinging on or any messy soil that could dirty up your home.
4. Give them a good shake
It's also a good idea to give your flowers a little shake, emphasis on the little. You don't want to destroy the flowers or risk shaking off the lovely petals, but you also want to give any insects the chance to jump ship.
It's best to do this with the flowers facing downwards as insects can easily hide inside the petals and leaves that are curled upwards.
5. Soak them in cold water
It's especially handy to have a bucket of cold water by your side when you're cutting your fresh flowers to soak them in. This will help give them a quick wash to remove any excess soil, insects, or anything else you don't want inside your home.
If you've had enough time outside, you can also put the bucket in your bathtub or even run some water into the bath to clean them for around 30 minutes before putting them in a vase. Then, you can enjoy your outdoor flowers without worrying about extra visitors in your home.
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