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Jordan Powers 00:00
Welcome to Cultivating Curiosity where we get down and dirty with the experts on all the ways science and agriculture touch our lives, from what we eat to how we live. I'm Jordan Powers.
Emily Cabrera 00:12
And I'm Emily Cabrera. We're from the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
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Emily Cabrera 00:19
Whether it's roses on Valentine's Day, a bright bouquet for Mother's Day or a beautiful vase of cut flowers as a housewarming gift, flowers have a way of marking special moments. Today, we're talking with Julie Campbell, Assistant Professor in the CAES Department of Horticulture, about how to choose flowers that look good and last, tips to care for them at home and even opportunities to give them a second life. Julie, thanks for joining us today.
Julie Campbell 00:43
Thanks for having me.
Jordan Powers 00:44
So, roses may get a lot of attention as an attractive flower that makes for a sturdy addition to bouquets, but what other flowers should consumers be looking for when building a bouquet or an arrangement?
Julie Campbell 00:55
Yeah, roses are always a really good, durable flower, and they're really familiar, but there are a ton of different types of flowers that you can use as well. I always tell people to look for things that are basically interesting. Anything that's interesting that adds shape, movement and color, different types of color to different things. So a couple of them that you could use, chrysanthemums, they're really long lasting. They have tons of different variety. They have different shapes, textures, colors to them. They're really easy as well, and you can find them in tons of different places. Astromeria or Peruvian lily. They're also very budget friendly. These flowers last a long time. I call them sometimes the Chick Fil A flowers, because if you look on Chick Fil A, they're tables, they're there, but they're there because, number one, they're pretty cheap and they last a really long time. But they come in a lot of different colors too. And so they're really good flowers for that. Lisianthus also, they're very long lasting. They're kind of soft, elegant. They tend to kind of class up any kind of arrangement that you're doing. They are a little more higher end. They're going to cost a little more, and sometimes you can't find them as easily. But really nice flower. Carnations, carnations actually are having to come back. And a lot of people think that they're just budget friendly kind of thing, but there are tons of different kinds and colors, and they're starting to really, really become more popular. And you can do a lot of cool things with those as well. Some people actually put a lot of carnations together, and they'll wrap them and make them look like larger, more expensive flowers, like peonies and things like that. So it's kind of your budget peony. They have tons of different colors, varieties now out different sizes, many, you know, larger. So they're really cool as well. Gerber daisies or sunflowers also put a lot of pop of color. They're really nice to put in different things as well. And then, you know, any kind of filler flower as well. People, a lot of times, people forget about the filler flowers, but they do add a lot of emphasis. And then greenery to put in different things too. You can get a lot of bang for your buck out of greenery. Putting greenery in tends to fluff up an arrangement, but it also tends to finish it off. And a lot of times you can find greenery just out in your yard. And so you don't necessarily have to go and spend a lot of money on greenery, depending on what you're doing, depending on the time of year, the type of flowers that you're doing as well, so.
Jordan Powers 02:50
I love the addition, you know, one of the first things I just heard you say was color, which obviously a lot of us that's the first thing we're drawn to, but the shape and the movement, I think, are two things that are noticed when you see a pretty finished bouquet, but it might not be the reason you think you're drawn to it. So it's really interesting to hear you talk about that as well.
Julie Campbell 03:13
Yeah, a lot of times when you have a bouquet and it has all the same flowers, it's kind of boring. So adding any kind of shape or movement or difference to an arrangement, kind of makes it a little more interesting.
Emily Cabrera 03:22
So thinking about pulling a bouquet together yourself, or even if you're out and you find a bouquet that's already pre made for you, are there certain flowers that you try to avoid using in a bouquet?
Julie Campbell 03:33
Not so much avoid, but there are some that are harder to take care of, and so you kind of have to know a little more about them than other flowers. So for example, tulips tend to over time, they will move towards the light. So they kind of, you put something in a vase, you have it arranged, and then you come back and it kind of looks different than it did. So you just have to keep that in mind, that they'll go towards the light. If you put them towards the window as bright light, they're gonna move towards that bright light. And so that's kind of a thing you have to keep in mind. Also, hydrangeas, hydrangeas are beautiful, but they're super sensitive to water. They will, I say they're very dramatic. You'll come back and you'll be like, Oh, you're so beautiful, and you come back and they're like, Ah, I hate life. I've died. What do you think they have? But they're just very sensitive to water. And so you just have to keep that in mind. Lilies also can be very pretty, but lilies also can be very messy. So ask any bride who's ever had lilies in their bouquet and had the pollen stain something bright yellow pollen. So just keep that in mind too, like you have to come back and take the pollen off periodically, or if you leave them somewhere on a white, beautiful tablecloth, you might have an issue with staining there, so they're great flowers, but you do have to kind of know a little more about them and kind of keep up with those.
Jordan Powers 04:46
Yeah, so there's kind of across budgets, but also across experience levels and really tolerance levels of how much you want to work. So once we get those flowers home, or that pre made bouquet, what is the first thing we should do to set ourselves up for success?
Julie Campbell 04:58
The number one thing I would say is hydrate as fast as you can. That's one of the biggest things, and doing that in a way that will help the flowers retain their water for the longest amount of time. So whenever you get your flowers at home, first off, don't leave flowers for a long time in a hot car, like if you make the flowers the last thing you buy, if you're going on errands or things like that, last thing you buy, bring them in first, immediately, unwrap them, cut the stems, and put them in water. Also. Another thing you can do is take any foliage, any leaves, anything like that, that's going to be at the water line or below, and strip that off, because that will extend the life of your flowers as well. Keep your vase water clean. Because you are stripping those leaves off that will help you keep that vase water clean for longer, because all that bacteria just basically explodes in that water once you set them in there. Also adding a flower food. So whenever you're bringing your flowers home, you should also add a flower food, if you can, because it comes with it oftentimes. And so there are three main components to flower food. You have a biocide, a carbohydrate or a sugar, and an acidifier. And so the biocide essentially keeps down the levels of bacteria and fungi in the water. The carbohydrate feeds the flowers, because you essentially cut their food source off. And then the acidifier helps uptake water, and so it goes up into the plant easier, also bringing the sugars in as well. You can make this at home. In theory, there are commercial versions, but there are also tons of different recipes online you can get and having any of those three type things in it. So for the acidifier, you could even put like Sprite, which also is an acidifier and a sugar, and then maybe a little drop of Clorox in there, kind of thing. So, but there are tons of recipes online for that.
Emily Cabrera 06:43
Is there another method, aside from that plant food and changing out water to keep flowers longer?
Julie Campbell 06:49
Yes and no, once they kind of start to die, you can go through and you can recut them and rehydrate them and change out the water and rearrange them even, because a lot of times I like to whenever I have a bouquet and it has lots of flowers in it, I like to go through whenever they're starting to die. And some you just kind of trash, and then the others, they're perfectly fine. And so you can have a different bouquet, cut the stems at an angle in water and then put them in and rearrange them, so you essentially have a whole brand new arrangement going on. And so you get to extend the life of them.
Jordan Powers 07:18
I am like the queen of doing that. I've actually gotten to a point where I've started downsizing vases too.
Julie Campbell 07:22
Yes!
Jordan Powers 07:26
When I throw enough away, I'm like, oh, a smaller vase. And, like, the last time I got down to a bud vase, and I was like, I guess it's time [laughter].
Julie Campbell 07:27
No, you can do that too. And you could even take single flowers and put them in random places as well, because they make you happy.
Jordan Powers 07:33
Exactly, little sparks of joy.
Julie Campbell 07:35
Exactly.
Jordan Powers 07:36
I love it. Well, once we have finally kind of maxed out that use. Do you have favorite ways to repurpose flowers that are kind of beyond the vase?
Julie Campbell 07:45
Yes. So I do lots of different things. I teach a floral design class, and we actually have a lot of things that I've tested and tried over the years. And drying flowers is really a good way to keep flowers, whether it's in silica gel or just laying them in a dry place and hang drying them. That's a really cool way to do it depends on the type of flower. Depends on the kind what's best for it. You can also press flowers. You can do this simply in a book. Or you can get flower presses. Flower presses are really easy to make. There are tons of do it yourself YouTube videos you can watch to do that kind of thing. Or you can buy commercial versions of it as well. Also recently, we've kind of gotten into resin crafts, doing flowers with resin crafts. So you have to dry them beforehand, but then you can put them in some kind of resin. And I know that that kind of has exploded as well, whether it be jewelry, tables, coasters, all kinds of trinkets. You can put anywhere, all kinds of craft projects.
Emily Cabrera 08:39
We know your area of emphasis is horticultural marketing and consumer behavior, and you recently published some research on buying flowers and how that can boost well being and reduce stress. We'll post that link in the show notes, along with a few others on your recent research. But what surprised you most about this most recent study?
Julie Campbell 08:59
I think that I knew in my head that flowers make you happy and you can get benefit from flowers, but to have it in an actual study, to have people say, Yes, flowers make me happy, and not just giving flowers, but also having flowers in your house, receiving flowers, I think that there has been an emphasis, especially in the US, on giving flowers and flowers being a gift, but flowers can also just be a gift to yourself. It can be your emotional support [laughter].
Emily Cabrera 08:59
Self care.
Julie Campbell 08:59
Yeah, self care! But I think that that's the way to go, that song, "I can buy myself, flowers" kind of thing, you should buy yourself flower [laughter].
Jordan Powers 09:06
It's so true well, and it is, it's it's awesome to hear that from you as a researcher, the fact that there's the science and the research and the focus groups and the study behind it, the evidence of the research is what makes such a difference. And yeah, buy yourself some flowers, folks. That is, I think, our big takeaway.
Julie Campbell 09:52
Buy yourself some flowers. That's the way to go.
Jordan Powers 09:54
I can't think of a more perfect end than that. Well, thank you for joining us today.
Julie Campbell 09:57
You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
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Jordan Powers 09:59
Thanks for listening to Cultivating Curiosity, a podcast produced by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. A special thanks to Mason McClintock for our music and sound effects. Find more episodes wherever you get your podcasts.