At Knight’s we are known for our flowers lasting for a very long time. One of the reasons is we test our flowers for vase life and only the longest lasting are the ones we carry. Of course, buying from great growers and following the stringiest care and handling procedures are a big factor too.

Each week we are going to feature one of our flowers and post pics on social media so you can see first hand the process we go through. We also are going to create a little contest and see if you can guess which flowers will last the longest.

This week we are going to test our spray roses. All our spray roses come from Rio Roses in Columbia, which is the 2nd largest producers of roses in the world (behind Ecuador). Rio spray roses are known for their open cut, which ensures a larger and fuller bloom and richer color. Each stem has at least four blooms, sometimes several more. These stunning characteristics you will rarely find with other growers spray roses. This makes Rio spray roses the creme de la creme of spray roses.

Once we receive our spray roses we make sure they are properly hydrated and put in a special formulation of rose food to insure the longest life. Generally, all our spray roses will last at least 7 days. Our spray roses are so popular we’ve even created a special arrangement called the ‘Rosy Day Bouquet’.

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Now you can join in the fun! Tell us how long you think our spray roses will last. The first person come close to guessing the closest vase life of the roses will win a free ‘Rosy Day’ Bouquet. Just copy and paste your answer in the comment section  of this post in facebook for a chance to win. Share it with your friends!

How long will they last?

‘Babe’-orange _____ days

‘Snow Flake’-white ____ days

‘Blue Moon’-lavender ____ days

‘Lovely Lydia’-hot pink ____ days

‘Yellow Babe’-yellow ____ days

‘Porcelina’-creme ____ days

‘Pink Majolika’-pink ____days

‘Sweet Sensation’-dark pink ____days

‘Chablis’-peachy ____ days

‘Ilse’-coral ____ days

There is no magic flower food or product that will keep flowers living longer if you have dirty water. Good clean water and clean buckets will do more to extend the life of your flowers than any flower food.

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For years in my shop I always thought we did a great job cleaning our buckets. It took just one mistake of an employee that ended up with a whole box of hydrangeas that wilted the next day. Luckily, we didn’t use them on a big wedding or funeral. That would have been a very costly mistake. Since this incident we follow very strict guidelines that make sure we have clean buckets and clean water for our flowers. Follow these simple rules and you’ll see dramatic improvement in the quality and vase life of your flowers.

• Make an investment in new cooler buckets. This was one of the best investments we made in our shop. We dumped ALL our old buckets. We invested in a complete new line of buckets that had just come out from Syndicate Sales. 
• Use professional cleaning solution. Floralife, Chrysal and Syndicate Sales all have great professional bucket cleaners for florists. 1 gallon, which will cost less than $30 will last for months.
• Clean buckets every time you use them. Invest in some good scrub brushes of various types and handle sizes and make it a point to never put flowers in a bucket until it has been cleaned.