How to Make Flowers Last Longer and Save Money

Love decorating with fresh flowers, but hate throwing money away when they begin to wilt? Don’t you wish you knew how to make flowers last longer?

Believe me, the struggle is real. Flowers are expensive! In this post, I’ll share a trick to show you how to make flowers last longer, saving you money on expensive arrangements.

Entertaining with Fresh Flowers

Whenever we entertain, I always decorate with fresh flowers. If it’s a casual dinner party or get-together, I keep it really simple.

For these types of parties, I love the simplicity of roses in a clear cube or square vase. In fact, on any given day you can find a dozen roses in my kitchen, in my favorite square vase.

If we are entertaining, I make a few of these “arrangements” to place throughout the house. You can purchase similar vases here and here.

But if it’s a really special event, we usually order custom arrangements from a florist, as we did for our Holiday Housewarming party.

For the housewarming, we decorated with pretty arrangements of white roses, lush seasonal greenery, berries, and gold accents.

In addition, we placed seasonal greenery and berries on our living room console, with tall pillar candles.

The arrangements were beautiful, and we continued to enjoy them for several days after the party.

As that week went on, I kept putting off throwing the flowers away. I had enjoyed them so much, and I just hated the thought of getting rid of them. I asked myself, “They aren’t that wilted, are they???”

How to Make Flowers Last Longer

Week-Old Floral Arrangements & Greenery Display

Well, by the following Saturday, the arrangements were a week old. I knew that the time had come to discard the flowers.

We were having some friends over that evening for a gift exchange, and I couldn’t very well have a bunch of dead flowers sitting around! So, I planned to just purchase some fresh roses from the grocery store. You know, to put in a clear square vase! 😉

This is how the arrangements looked that morning. The roses were looking pretty sad.

How I Extended the Life of My Floral Arrangements

Then it hit me! The roses really were in bad shape, but the greenery was actually holding up pretty well. I decided to simply swap out the wilted roses for fresh ones in each existing arrangement!

There weren’t enough white roses available at the grocery store, so I decided to include red roses in a couple of the arrangements.

This was so unbelievably quick and easy! Since the flowers were in floral foam, I just removed them one by one. Then, I cut a fresh rose in the same length, and placed the fresh rose exactly where the discarded one had been. I left the ferns, berries, leaves, and gold ornament picks in their original positions.

Do you enjoy working with flowers? I honestly do not. Simple flowers in a clear vase is all I really have patience for. But, this was my kind of project!

This floral update took no time at all! And, the finished arrangements were perfect for our annual gift exchange party.

Updating The Seasonal Greenery Display

Remember the gorgeous seasonal greenery on the living room console for the housewarming party?

Well, after a week the greenery had dried but was still beautiful. The pillar candles belonged to the catering company, so they had been removed immediately after the party.

In preparing for our gift exchange get together, I placed faux pillar candles made of wax where the hurricane pillar holders had been. This allowed us to enjoy the display for the remainder of the season.

While not nearly as lovely as the original display, the addition of the flameless pillar candles that I had on hand allowed us to continue to enjoy the seasonal greenery.

I really love the way those tall pillars look, so I plan to purchase similar ones to hold my flameless candles for future use!

Save Money on Expensive Floral Decor

In professionally decorated floral arrangements, some items last longer than others. In addition, some greenery and other accents actually look beautiful as they dry, like the greenery on my console. These types of fresh floral decor can be enjoyed for several weeks.

If at least half of an arrangement still looks fresh (or dried, but still attractive), then you should be able to use this technique.

How to Make Flowers Last Longer in 4 Easy Steps

If about 50% or more of your arrangement still looks good, while the remainder is wilted, you may be able to extend the life of the arrangement.

Purchase enough fresh flowers to replace the wilted ones in the arrangement.
Remove one wilted flower. (Most professional arrangements will be in floral foam, which makes this very easy to do).
Next, cut a fresh flower in the same length as the flower you just removed, and place the fresh flower exactly where the discarded one had been.
Repeat until all of the wilted flowers have been replaced with fresh ones.

Extend the Life of Your Flowers

If you’re trying to figure out how to make flowers last longer, just try this easy trick! As long as your arrangement contains long-lasting greenery and items that are drying nicely, you are in luck!

Simply buy some fresh flowers, and swap out the wilted ones for the fresh ones. Keep the remaining items in place. This will allow you to enjoy your arrangement for the next several days!

If you try this technique, let me know how it works out in the comments below!

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