How to Make Your Flowers Last Longer - Tips from a Florist

After expert advice for your wilting flower bouquets? This week, we've spoken with top florist/flower farmer, Sofie Paton-Smith, for her insight on keeping an ever-lasting cut flower display!

From her first flower garden growing her favourite vegetables and Dahlias, Sofie has grown her green-fingered empire by opening her own flower shop-come teaching suite, Soil & Fluers. With over 8 years in the industry, Sofie spills the beans on creating long-lasting bouquets to her favourite seasonal flowers to know and grow! 

Let's dive in!

Pictured: Sofie of Soil & Fluers

What is the secret to creating a beautiful bouquet?

Magical ingredients! I like to use British-grown flowers for their different shapes and scent. Dancers, for example, (dancing flowers like aquilegas, malope or seline) add lots of movement.

What are your favourite cut flower styles?

I’m known for my wildly romantic bouquets and tonal arrangements. I dislike symmetry in flower arranging and love to use flowers like roses in different stages and also many different varieties of flowers. Nothing wrong with having one of each.

Do you have any top tips for growing cut flowers?

Like most things, knowledge is power, so take a course in seed sowing or buy a good book.

What are your tips for keeping cut flowers looking fresh?

Change the water and re-cut the stems every or every other day. Also, place them somewhere cool every night and your flowers will last so much longer. Don’t place them near fresh fruit as they will spoil the flowers.

Do you make your flower food? What's your secret?

I don’t use additives as most are environmentally unfriendly, but flowers love fresh water and re-cutting them will increase their uptake and their longevity. Also, making sure each stem is clean from foliage under the water line is essential as greenery breeds bacteria.

For a first-time grower, what cut flower varieties would you recommend starting with?

I love malope, sweet peas and agrostemma. They are easy to germinate and are so lovely in a vase or a bouquet. Malope will flower all summer.

What flowers do you recommend for a long-lasting vase display?

Ranunculi’s have an amazing vase life. Roses and snapdragons for the summer and in autumn chrysanthemums are wonderful, especially with their lovely pastel colours.

What are your winning wedding flower combinations?

Colour wise I love peaches, pinks and whites. They can be found in ranunculi’s and tulips in spring and zinnias, sweet peas, dahlias and roses in summer. If I had to choose one, it would have to be roses.

Do you have a favourite summer flower combination?

I love hot pink mixed with softer pastels and white but also citrine rust and dusky red which is a new favourite. Nothing beats dahlias and roses in summer. Add in smaller flowers like zinnias, malope, scabiosa and friends and you have a lovely combination. 

What are your favourite spring flower combinations?

I’m madly in love with ranunculi’s and parrot tulips. Add some wall flowers and hellebores and you have a heavenly scented, wildly romantic spring bouquet! My go-to foliage is flowering currant (Ribes Sanguineum) for well into the summer.

Want to see more of Sofie's work? You can visit her website here to shop her hand-picked bouquets, or follow her gardening inspo on Instagram! To find your local flower farmer, check out Flowers from the Farm.