Summer is here! It's time to bedeck your home with beautiful summer blooms. But do you, like many, shy away from flowers during this time of the year fearing that they won't last long?

Flowers are delicate. Flowers are sensitive. And hot weather can make them miserable. But just a little love and a bit of care can actually make flowers last long despite hot weather!

Here are a few useful tips on how to make flowers last long in summer.

• Direct breeze from a fan can really make flowers weary. Fan breeze robs flowers of moisture leaving them dry and lifeless. Avoid reaching out for the fan switch in a room adorned with flowers. See your flowers smile back at you in a pleasantly air conditioned room.


• We must treat flowers the way we treat our bodies. We don't drink unfiltered water, do we? Flowers shouldn't either. Place your flowers in only fresh filtered water to ensure freshness.


• Crisp flower stems are always crowned with happy flowers. Filling the vaz with water right up to the brim only causes the stem to go soggy and slimy. Make sure that your flowers are placed in only so much water enough to submerge the stems.


• Trim stems every two days to make your flowers last longer. Trim them underwater. This ensures that there are no air pockets thereby causing water to gush into the stem giving new life to those thirsty buds. This is something I learnt from my Ikebana teachers from Japan and this is most helpful in making flowers last longer.


• It's best to keep trimming your flowers so that they last longer. Start with placing your flowers in a tall vaz. As you trim their stems every two days, keep changing the size of the vaz.


• The hotter it gets the more the chances are that your flowers might wilt. Spritz water on the blooms with a spray-can to humidify them and keep them beaming.
• Use floral food if possible. But do not use salt, soda bicarb, disprin and things such as these on your flowers. Relate flowers to humans! What's not good for us cannot be good for flowers!


• If your flowers are set in floral foam ensure that the foam does not dry up. Keep the foam wet by spraying it with water.

Go ahead. Get those summer blooms! Only remember just like people, flowers need care. Follow these simple tips to make certain that your flowers stay happy and full of life this summer season.