Flowerish post

- Arrange flowers around fresh fruit in a glass bowl for a special event.

- Use containers in which you would not normally not expect flowers to be displayed. How about a sun hat turned upside down to place the flower bowl in or a brass urn or a teapot? Avoid steel and iron, as these deteriorate the flowers.

- Remove all the leaves under the water line. They decompose, turn the water brown, and wilt the flowers.

- Slice the stem vertically--about an inch--to allow for more water absorption.

- Put marbles in the bottom of a glass vase to hold the flowers.

- When putting long-stemmed flowers in a wide-mouth vase, stretch plastic wrap over the mouth. Put the stems in through that, and they will stand up straight.

- If your flowers are too short for your vase, crunch up the cellophane that the flowers come wrapped in, and place it in the bottom of a clear vase.

- Attach green straws to the ends of short-stemmed flowers to give them some extra length.

- Use various flower lengths to give the arrangement a more dimensional look.

- Add various accessories to your flowers if you are celebrating a special event. A rattle or nookie for someone with a newborn is a nice touch, as well as streamers and confetti if it's a birthday party.

- Change the water daily and give them a fresh snip to make them last much longer.

- Don't wait for company to put out fresh flowers to enjoy. Treat you and your family every now and then.

- To make flowers last longer, change the water often and add a small amount of bleach each time to keep the water clear.

- Try something different and wrap large smooth leaves around the interior of a vase before filling it. The flowers won't last as long if you do and you should change the water daily for this type of unexpected arrangement.

- Cut each stem at an angle when arranging flowers so it soaks up plenty of water. If you buy an arrangement in a grocery store, place each flower individually into a vase so it looks its best.

- Finally, if you want flowers to open sooner, put them in slightly warm water to speed up the blooming process. Consider that many flowers won't last as long after doing this.