Conditioning — the hour that doubles vase life

This is the lesson home arrangers skip and florists insist on. Done properly, conditioning adds 4–7 days to vase life. Done badly, your roses are bowing their heads in 48 hours.

The basic routine, immediately after cutting:

1. Cut in the cool of morning (or late evening) — never at midday in heat.

2. Plunge straight into a bucket of deep cool water, up to the necks.

3. Strip ALL leaves that would sit below the future waterline. Submerged leaves rot in 24 hours and turn the water cloudy.

4. Stand the bucket in a cool, dark place (a garage, a shaded shed, the boot of a parked car in winter) for 2 hours minimum. This is 'hardening' — the stems gulp water and the flowers become rigid.

5. Only then start arranging.

Species-specific extras that matter:

• Tulips, daffodils, sunflowers — sear stem ends in boiling water for 10 seconds before arranging. Seals milky sap; doubles vase life.

• Roses, hydrangeas, lilac, viburnum — recut underwater (hold the stem in a bowl of water and snip 2 cm off the bottom). Stops the air-lock that makes them droop overnight.

• Daffodils and narcissus — condition ALONE for 12 hours; their sap shortens the life of other flowers. After 12 hours they can be added to mixed arrangements safely.

• Hellebores — condition for 24 hours in deep water, OR pick once seed pods have started to form (these stems are mature and last; the soft-stemmed early flowers wilt fast).

• Hydrangea — recut and dip the bottom 1 cm into a saucer of alum powder, OR dunk the whole flower head underwater for 30 seconds before arranging.