How To Help Your Easter Lily Last Longer

Easter lilies remain the most popular gift flower during the Easter and Passover season. White lilies have symbolized purity and spiritual renewal since before Biblical times and receiving one as a gift is a delightful way to celebrate the arrival of spring.

If you receive an Easter Lily as a gift you can enjoy your flowers over a much longer period with just a little bit of special care. Giving your Easter lily the correct amount of light water and providing the proper temperature will help your gift plant produce beautiful flowers over at least two weeks and possibly longer if it arrives with many young unopened buds.

How To Care For Your Easter Lily

Easter lilies like bright but indirect sunlight and cool temperatures so don't locate your plant in hot,direct sunlight or near heat vents. 60-65 degrees F is the ideal daytime temperature and the plants can take even cooler nighttime temperatures.

Moving your plant to an unheated room at night will make the blooms last longer and will keep the plants from getting stressed.

Lily bulbs and plants are poisonous so keep them away from children and pets.

Make sure to remove the yellow anthers from the center of the flowers. This is very important because those anthers will shed large amounts of sticky yellow pollen which will make the flowers wilt sooner. The thick pollen could also stain fabrics and furniture so don't forget this step.

Lilies prefer moist but not wet soil so under watering or over watering can be harmful. Check the soil every day and water whenever the soil feels dry.

Remove the plastic pot from its wrapping or basket when you water and let the water drain from the pot so the bulb will never be left in standing water. After the water has from the pot drained you can replace the cover.

When each Easter lily flower begins to wilt remove to make room for the new blossoms. If you skip this step you may find that some of the unopened buds will not mature because the plant will try to put its energy into making seed.

If you'd like to move your Easter lily to the garden when it has finished blooming removing the spent flowers will also help the bulb put its energy into making bulblets which will eventually grow into blooming lily plants.

Most people view Easter lilies as a "throwaway plant" believing that forced bulbs won't bloom again. But if you've followed the directions here you should be able to move it to the garden with no problems.

For instructions on growing your Easter lily gift plant in the Garden see my Xomba article:

Easter Lily Plants Don't Have To Be Discarded When The Season Is Over

Happy Easter!

Tips To Keep Your Valentine Rose Bouquet Affordable

A Valentine Rose bouquet is still the most popular gift to give a loved one on this special holiday. Red roses will probably always be the most popular choice but there are more affordable Valentine rose bouquet choices for people who want to give beautiful roses that don't break the bank.

Get Your Valentine Rose Bouquet In A Color Other Than Red

Red roses are in such demand for Valentine's Day that they will always cost more than roses of other colors. Yellow,pink,or white rose arrangements are usually priced lower than red roses. Mixed color arrangements,with or without red roses,are also usually a more affordable choice than an all-red arrangement.

12 Long Stem White Roses

Choose Short Stemmed Or Spray Roses For Valentine Rose Savings

Long stemmed red roses may be the Valentine standard but there are other types of roses available that are just as lovely. Short stemmed roses and spray roses are more affordable choices if you want to save a little money on Valentine roses.

Short stemmed roses have a fuller look than long stemmed roses and look beautiful in a round or square vase. Again,the savings can be substantial.

Most roses that are grown for the floral trade have one bloom per stem. Growers cut back stems of blooming roses to one bud so a larger flower will be produced. The effect can be dramatic but the extra care required to produce single long stemmed roses results in higher prices.

Spray roses are roses that haven't been pruned to one bud so each stem is allowed to produce several flowers. A bouquet of 12 spray roses could actually contain dozens of blooms. The flowers will be smaller but the full,lush look of spray roses resembles a bouquet your sweetheart might cut from her own garden.

Assorted Blooms of Spray Roses

Find A Valentine Rose Bouquet That Has The Vase Included In The Price

It's always a good idea to include a vase in your Valentine flower order,especially if you aren't sure whether the recipient has one. But adding a vase can add up to $20 to the price of a flower arrangement. Luckily most florists offer flower arrangements that include a vase for no extra charge. This can result in a substantial savings on a Valentine rose bouquet.

12 Assorted Roses With Vase

Why Are Valentine Roses So Expensive?

It's certainly not a myth that valentine roses cost more than those sold at other times of the year. Whether you order roses online or from a local florist the prices will be higher on Valentine"s Day. Some people may even be convinced that the suddenly high price of Valentine roses is simply a conspiracy to get people to part with more of their hard earned money in the name of love.

So are there legitimate reasons why roses cost more on Valentine's Day? The real truth of the matter is that that the consumer is not the only one who pays more for Valentine roses. Since Valentine's Day falls in the middle of the winter in the Northern Hemisphere most roses are either grown in greenhouses or shipped in from South American countries like Ecuador and Colombia. So of course the retailer will also be paying significantly more than usual.

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How Valentine Roses Get To The Recipient

Roses are carefully grown so they will be blooming in time for Valentine's Day. When the roses are still in the bud phase they are ready to be harvested and shipped. More workers must be hired by the grower to prepare the them and send them all over the world. The roses are flown in from South America where they are then shipped either to distribution centers,directly to the consumer, or to local florists for arranging and delivery to the recipient. All of this takes place in climate controlled conditions so the roses won't be subject to freezing or overheating.

Since Valentine's Day is the busiest holiday in the year for sending roses florists have to hire extra workers to prepare,arrange,or deliver the roses and to take telephone or internet orders. Because of the volume of business more people will probably be needed during the week or two before Valentine's Day to take telephone and internet orders and to provide customer service. Even local grocery stores may need more workers to fill the demand for Valentine roses.

When you order your Valentine roses online you usually have the choice of having the flowers packaged in a box and and sent to the recipient via UPS or FedEx or having a local florist arrange and deliver them. Either delivery method is subject to charges in addition to the price of the flowers.

To save money when ordering roses online you can take advantage of current offers like 1800Flowers free shipping or Save up to 15% - 30% + Get FREE Express Delivery at Honest Florist. When buying flowers from a local florist you can save a delivery charge by picking your Valentine roses up yourself and delivering them in person.