TALKING FLOWERS Tips For Longer Lasting Flowers in the Vase Flowers are so uplifting and whilst they’re lovely in the garden, in the home, you’ve got them to enjoy for longer.After all, you’re not watching your flowers that are in the garden for very long. There are plenty of 'old wives tales', and just plain outright myths about  what to do to your flowers to make them last past 3 days in the vase.  Ever heard of putting a copper penny in the vase water? Well it's sounds like it could work but in reality, it doesn't do anything for the flowers. What about dissolving an aspirin in the water? That's sheer nonsense. So how can you make the most of your cut flowers? I'm talking with Nadine Brown, florist, floral designer and educator of www.wildflorastudio.com.au who shares her tried and true tips from over thirty years of experience in the flower business. Some of those tips you may have heard before on my Real World Gardener program and one of them is that flowers are ethylene sensitive. That means flower sellers on the roadside are not just selling your flowers, but a whole bunch of ethylene laden flowers that have been covered by exhaust fumes.  That also means that your fruit bowl of bananas, apples and pears are also emitting ethylene which hasten the demise of your precious flowers if they're nearby.   Nadine recommends that  The best place to buy your flowers is from the grower or from a florist. The next best tip is clean fresh water every couple of days is the next best thing for your flowers.  If you recut the stems on an angle as you do that, then you're increasing the vase life of your flowers. Doing this under water prevents air bubbles from blocking any uptake or food or water too. Filtered water isn't totally necessary. Coming second those first tips is a spoonful of vodka!! Is scalding the stems a myth or fact? You probably have heard of scalding hydrangea stems by placing those woody stems in boiling hot water for 30 seconds to a minute, then straight into cold water.?Perhaps you thought that was a bit of fuss over nothing? The truth is this works for woody stems such as hydrangeas and roses, plus a few others like lavender and poppies. Not all flowers though. Using boiling water or scalding, expels air bubbles or trapped air from the stems, which as before, blocks uptake of water and nutrients. For more tips listen to the podcast and watch the tutorial that Nadine has generously provided on 'Care and Condition for your flowers. The link for the Care and Conditioning tutorial is just one of over 50 tutorials in Nadine’s membership library, https://vimeo.com/485281174/2ac20b9565 So let’s listen to the podcast. If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.