The Right Way To Harvest Daffodils For A Stunning Flower Arrangement

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There's nothing that heralds the onset of spring in more spectacular fashion than a drift of daffodils slowly opening their bright blooms. What's even better is that daffodils make delightful floral bouquets when you harvest them and place them in a pretty vase indoors. While you've probably already employed some clever tips and tricks for growing daffodils, to get the most from those coveted blooms, you'll want to know the right way to harvest them. Then, you can use them for those stunning flower arrangements. 

Many flower growers recommend that the right way to harvest daffodils is to pull them rather than cut the stems. This can be a bit tricky until you get the hang of it. Essentially, you want to grab the stem as far down as possible and give it a twist so that the stem snaps, complete with a white section at the base. This will allow the bloom to seal in the water that the stem absorbs, resulting in longer-lasting flowers. Alternatively, you can use a tip from professional florists and cut the stems with a knife rather than scissors, as these can crush the stems and prevent them from taking up water. A cut flower or grafting knife similar to this Floral Knife from Victorinox, is ideal. Just watch your fingers, as these can be quite sharp. Now that you know how to harvest your blooms the right way, you'll want some essential tips for keeping daffodils alive in a vase.

Knowing when to harvest your daffodils is also important if you want them to last well. Primarily, daffodils should be pulled or cut when they're at the "gooseneck" stage. This is when the flower bud has started to bend down and is sitting at a 45-degree angle to the stem. As soon as you harvest your daffodils, you need to put them into water with some floral preservative to ensure they're going to last well in your arrangement. Similarly, it helps to know how cotton balls can make your cut flowers last longer.

One word of caution: Although daffodils look lovely when mixed with other colorful spring blooms, their stems do exude a slimy sap that can foul the vase water and shorten the life of the other flowers in the bouquet. For this reason, it's best to just cut a whole bunch of these extravagant blooms and arrange them in a vase on their own. Or, you can place the cut or pulled stems in a container of water for several hours (three to four) before adding them to the arrangement you're working on. This is referred to as conditioning within the florist industry — generally, it means to get the plant material as full of water as possible. It allows all of that sticky slime to seep out of the stems.