Keep lilacs from wilting after cutting and keep them fresh for longer with these simple tips and tricks. Works for other cut flowers too!
I absolutely love lilac season! The vibrant color, delicious scent, and beautiful blooms make them one of my favorite spring flowers. I only wish they lasted they bloomed all summer long!
How to Keep Lilacs from Wilting After Cutting
Since lilac season is so short, you’ll want to make the most out of those gorgeous blooms! To keep your lilacs looking fresh and beautiful for longer, follow these simple tips. You should be able to get at least 4 or 5 days of pretty lilac flowers to enjoy in your home.
Invest in quality pruning sheers.
If you like to cut a lot of fresh flowers from your yard, it’s definitely worth it to invest in a good pair of pruning sheers. A sharp pair of pruning sheers makes cleaner cuts resulting in less damage to the stem. You also want to make sure your sheers are clean to prevent the spread of bacteria and to help keep your stems healthy.
Choose your blooms wisely.
Cut your flowers in the cooler morning or evening hours. Morning is probably best as they will be filled with moisture from the morning dew. Look for lilac blooms that have about 3/4 of the flowers open as they tend to not not open a lot more after cutting.
Immerse stems in cool water.
Lilacs are a woody stem and require lots of water. Take a bucket of fresh, cool water out into the yard when you cut your blooms and immerse the stems immediately in the water as you cut. After cutting, remove most of the folliage from the stem as keeping too many leaves will pull water from the blooms themselves and lead to quicker wilting. I usually like to leave the top 1 -2 leave stems closest to the blooms on the stem. Place the stems in a cool, dark place and allow them to take up water for 1-2 hours.
Trim stems.
When you’re ready to make your arrangement, you’ll need to do a little extra trim work on the stems. As you’re cutting the stems, cut at a 45 degree angle rather than straight across. This increases the surface area to allow them to draw up more water. For branches that are a little bit thicker {i.e. thicker than a pencil}, add an additional 1-2 inch vertical cut up the stem for added water absorption. Alternatively, you can “smash” the end of the stems with a hammer to get the same splintering effect.
Use a clean vase.
Bacteria and other microorganisms that may be on the surface of your vase can quickly cause your flowers to die. Be sure to give your vase a good cleaning beforehand with hot water, a little dish soap, and some vinegar to kill any bacteria off – even if you think it’s clean! Rinse well and dry to remove any residue before adding your flower water.
Add some floral preservative.
Before adding your flowers, stir in some floral preservative or crushed aspirin to the water. The salicylic acid in aspirin helps to keep the water clean and free of bacteria. You can also create your own flower preservative with 1 tsp of sugar and 1/4 tsp of bleach for each quart of water used.
Give them daily love.
Lilacs will drink up a lot of water so the water should at least be topped up every day. I usually do a full water change every couple of days and re-trim the stems if I notice that they are starting to wilt a bit. If you can catch them early, they will perk right back up.
Now just enjoy and breathe in that delicious scent! For more ideas on making cut flowers last longer, check out this post. Happy lilac season!
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love this! My lilacs came back this year (they were new last summer). So excited.
Thank you jenn! social distance hugs from Colorado, laura
It’s always so fun watching them bloom and I love being able to clip flowers for the house.
My grandmother craved the ability to gather flowers from her own yard but lived in an apartment in our town for about a third of the year, so if we had any flowers at our house, we always gathered some for her to take home. The concept of opening the stems by way of brute force with a hammer was a novel idea to us teenagers back then but has of course stood the test of time. I appreciate your further suggestions to use sugar/bleach, aspirin for longer bloom life.
That’s so nice that you brought her flowers – there’s nothing like fresh flowers.:)
and another thought from my past. (This topic seems to have gotten my attention.) On a still-warm listless autumn evening 25 years or more ago, I thought I would be a proactive, home-gardener-type-of-person and prune our lilacs so that they would bloom stronger next year. I stood on the cars in the driveway to reach the higher boughs and did a very thorough job of it, and Ha! completely removed all of the next spring’s incipient blossoms. They never bloomed right again. Now I borrow lilac cuttings from neighbors. So I still have use for your good tips. Ha ha, thanks Jenn, I enjoyed this. — Louise