Cut flowers for the house

Good idea Scotgran hope you get many cuttings.

Its Orchids that slip into my trolley:)

Orchids are too intelligent to jump in to my trolley Scotkat. They would be committing suicide. I'm fushionless (useless) with house plants.

It's nice to have flowers in a vase, especially in the winter. They add charm to a room I think.
I always take the cuttings off but don't have much success in rooting them. I'll try oasis next time.
Good luck. I hope they all root for you :o)

These are very cheerful and make me smile. I would usually just put cuttings in a glass of water but there are so many I'm hoping this experiment will work. I once left a lump of oasis with the remnants of an arrangement out in the garden . I found the Skimmia japonica Nymans had taken root. I'm trying this and keeping the water topped up in the hope that it will work. Its a compromise between a glass of water and putting them outside where they would die in this cold weather. I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks. It will be interesting to know.

I was bought some roses. Put them in a vase and it wasn't long before the heads drooped. I cut off the best flowers and floated them in a bowl of water...lasted ages!
Best of luck with your cuttings!

Jumping flowers....fantastic....just like the chocolate that jumps int o my basket and the plants/seeds I don't really have room for that jump into my hands at the Garden Centre.
Hope they root ok for you!

What a clever girl you are...I must try this.
Paul, I have exactly the same problems lol!

I'm glad you managed to save your roses Lulu. Have you tried the hot water pick me up for roses. Cover the wilted heads to keep the steam of boiling water away from them and put the bottom inch of stem in boiling water for one minute. It should perk them up nicely. Paul and Waddy I think Supermarkets and Garden Centres use jumping devices to help us make irrational decisions. Its called marketing and it leaves cold calling looking amateurish. I'll be interested to find out if it works for you Waddy. I'm hopeful.

Aha Scotsgran, thanks for the rose tip! Some perk me up boiling water!

Watch you don't scald yourself as you do it. Its a weird way but it work.

LoL, I rather like their pretty little heads floating in a bowl of cool water!

A bowl of floating flower heads was a very well supported class in our local flower show and a great way to display them. I'm pleased you are still enjoying them. I would not have thought of floating rose heads in water.

That sounds like a good idea - I had a children's book "What shall we grow?" and it suggested putting lavender cuttings in Oasis. You just have to remember to keep it well watered! It will be really interesting to see how your cuttings fare. I have a very bad (or good!) record for losing cut roses - I think the heads droop because of air bubbles in the stems, but even the boiling water trick doesn't always work for me, only keeping them in a really cool room. But then I don't get to enjoy them, so it's Catch 22!

Thats interesting Mel. I'll try that as I have lots of overgrown lavendar which should have been cut back but were not.
According to Dr Hessayon in the flower arranging expert before you think of having roses in a vase they need to have their stems conditioned.
1.Remove the thorns and leaves with scissors
2. Scrape the bottom inch of stem off and split it up for that length. Do this under water if possible.
3. Plunge the stems in water, the deeper the better and leave in a cool place overnight or 2-8 hours at least. I use a black florists bin from the supermarket.
4. Soak oasis thoroughly in water containing the sachet of food supplied with the flowers, if you are using it before arranging your flowers directly from the water. If you need to cut the stems do it under the water if possible.
The sad thing about us being warm is that it does not necessarily suit cut flowers.

Thank you for the tips, Scotsgran. I have always cut the bottom of the stems, and removed any leaves that would be underwater, but I shall definitely follow the instructions next time I have some roses, and see what happens. I tend to stick to chrysanthemums now because they last so well!

I found alstroemerias last the best in our house.

Yes - and I am usually ok with most lilies. I love to have flowers in the house. We'll be able to have daffodils before too long!

I really prefer the flowers growing in the garden to sitting in a vase but every now and again I feel I would like to have something I have seen in the supermarket.

My indoor flowers nearly always come from the supermarket. Even the daffs, though I grow hundreds! I know they say that the more you pick, the more they grow, but I don't think I grow many that are particularly suitable for cutting -it's never really appealed to me.

I just bring in the windfalls. I never buy daffs.

Some just jump into my trolley when I'm shopping, and I haven't the heart to put them back!!

That would be cruel indeed. lol.

I'm glad you agree :-)) !

Sorry to have to report that I allowed all of my cuttings to die. The first time i forgot to top up the water they did rally when it was replenished. The second time I forgot for too long and try as I might they have died. Maybe I put too many in the one block of oasis. Only 7 actually produced roots. I hope others have had more success.

Sorry to hear that, Scotsgran. Sometimes these tips sound better than they really are. I confess I didn't actually try it. I tend to root soft cuttings in water - I find fuchsias work well that way, and herbs like mint or basil. Otherwise, I put them round the edge of a pot. My downfall is usually forgetting all about them and finding them dried up and wilting pathetically a couple of weeks later.

Confession is good for the soul Mel. Lol.

Lol! I wouldn't deliberately mislead you, Scotsgran!!

Nor me you.

Of that I'm sure :-)))