the Fleamarket

Our Florida weekend activities often include a stop at a fleamarket. My husband usually shops for nothing in particular, but always returns with something. I shop for fresh strawberries, veggies, and fresh cut flowers.


I've gotten two different tips from two different flower vendors which help the flowers last longer.

• One of the vendors told me to add a little bit of bleach to the water in the vase. When I started doing this, it seemed to extend the life of the flowers by a couple of days, and usually the carnations would last about 10 days.
  
• The next year a different vendor gave me another piece of advice - only keep an inch of water in the vase - the flowers only absorb water from the cut end of the stem, and extra water just causes the stems to disintegrate. Now my cut flowers usually last about two weeks.
  

This is day 9 for these flowers and they still look pretty.