How do I care for my blooms? Cut flower aftercare with Shortacre Farm.

One of the perks of picked-to-order flowers directly from the farm is that they will last much longer than those that have been sitting in a cool room or on a shop shelf. To ensure that you get the best life out of your Shortacre blooms, we recommend following the following steps.

However, we would like to highlight that cut flowers provide a fantastic opportunity to bring the beauty of nature inside your home - lean into the ephemeral.

Just like in nature, sometimes it's okay to let the petals fall.

All Shortacre packaging, bar the ribbon, is recycled and recyclable or home compostable, so please dispose of it thoughtfully. The ribbon can be reused – a gentle steam iron will remove any unwanted crinkles.

1. Start with a clean vase; fill it to two-thirds of its volume with fresh, room temp water

2. Trim about 1-2cm from the bottom of the stems at a 45-degree angle and place into the vase

3. Remove any leaves that will sit below the waterline to avoid gunky water

4. Change the water every 2-3 days after the second day

5. Keep your flowers out of direct sunlight to prolong their life.

6. Remove stems as flowers die – some varieties will naturally last much longer than others, so don’t toss the baby out with the bathwater!

7. Finally, when there really is no more to give, your blooms can be relinquished to your worm farm, compost bin or used as mulch to decompose under a garden plant (we wouldn’t recommend this for imported or supermarket flowers, which may have been treated with chemicals hazardous to earthworms and their kin).

8. Clean your vase thoroughly, ready for your next Shortacre bouquet.