Cut to the vase

It is the garden brought closest to our hearts. A cinched fistful of bliss, dunked in water from the waist down.

The question is: How best to tend to the cut flowers that we bring home? Tired of watching daisies wilt before their time, sick of plugging our nose as we pour out putrid murky waters and the stems and leaves that have gone all goopy, we sought expert advice. Here's a handy list for how to keep your fleurs alive (as well as a ballpark estimate of how many days you might savor their delights), and some extraordinary choices for your winter bouquets.

Here are a few pointers to get the most bang from your bouquets.

Keep it clean: Gunk-free buckets, pruners and water will reduce the bacteria that clog stems and hasten rotting. That handy little packet the florist hands you is designed to destroy the bacteria, writes Suzy Bales, author of "Garden Bouquets and Beyond" (Rodale, $35). We found this DIY recipe at chemistry.about.com: Combine 2 tablespoons each white vinegar and sugar, 1/2 teaspoon household chlorine bleach and 1 quart warm water.

Ditch the scissors: Use a sharp knife or garden shears. Scissors merely squeeze and crush stems, and set you back before you get the posies to water.

Cut on the angle: You might think this boosts the water uptake, but really it keeps the stems from resting flat against the bottom of a vase and blocking the entry point for water, says Johannes Maree, co-author of "Cut Flowers of the World: A Complete Reference for Growers and Florists" (Timber Press, $39.95). By cutting off the bottom inch or two, you remove the natural seal that formed when the stem was first cut. This also removes any bacteria that could block the ends and eliminates air bubbles that can form when a stem is first snipped.

Short is good: Shorter stems allow water to get to the bloom more quickly and easily.

Raise the heat: Room temperature tap water -- not lukewarm, not chilly -- is the happiest bath for most bouquets.

Condition: Many pros dip fresh-cut stems in a conditioner such as Floralife Quick Dip (find it at floralife.com), an instant pretreatment hydration solution. (The exception: Pretreatments should never be used on stems cut from bulbs.) Also, use the pouch of floral preservative that came with your flowers. Bales says that storing fresh-cut flowers for six hours in a cool corner of the basement can triple the vase life.

Ditch the swamp water: OK, sometimes it's a pain to lift a big bouquet and change the water. Sam McGee, of Prufrock Floral & Botanical Design in Winnetka, Ill., shares this trick: Instead of budging the flowers from the vase, hold the vessel under a running faucet for about five minutes. As the water spills from the vase, you are essentially changing the water without moving a bloom. Once it's crystal clear, you are back in business.

FLORAL STAYING POWER

Here are tips for specific flowers. Unless otherwise noted, cut on an angle.

How long it'll last: Indefinitely. Really.

What to do: Remove leaves. Cool water.

How long it'll last: Week or less.

What to do: Remove all leaves. Cut. Cool to room-temp water. Or let them dry in an empty vase. (When cutting, make a clean vertical split 1/2-inch up from the stem's end.)

How long it'll last: One week, fresh. Dries easily: Leave in vase, let water evaporate, and you could have the mop heads for years. Honest.

How long it'll last: A week.

What to do: Cut. Doesn't need water.

How long it'll last: A month or longer.

What to do: Cut. Cool water.

How long it'll last: Two weeks.

How long it'll last: A week.

What to do: Remove leaves. Cut. Cool water.

How long it'll last: One week to 10 days.

What to do: Cut. Cool water.

How long it'll last: Two weeks. (Often lasts longer cut than on the bulb.)

How long it'll last: Two weeks.

What to do: Cut. Cool water.

How long it'll last: A week.

What to do: Remove all leaves, except at the crown. Remove thorns (don't use a scraping tool, it's too easy to damage the stem); snapping off with your thumb isn't hard. Cut. Put in a warm water bath (the exception to the no-warm-water rule; this is a florists' trick to coax open the buds), then into cool water.

How long it'll last: About 10 days.

How long it'll last: Two weeks.

What to do: Cut. Cool water.

How long it'll last: Three weeks. (Florists quip that these stars have "the shelf life of government cheese." Big bang for your buck.)

What to do: Cut. Cool water.

How long it'll last: 10 days.

How long it'll last: Indefinitely.

We put Quick Dip floral conditioner to the test: We bought two each of three floral beauties: Coffee Break rose, yarrow and magnolia (for the glossy leaves). We simply cut one trio and stuck it in tap water. The other we dunked in Quick Dip, according to directions, for two seconds, and then plopped it into a second vase of room-temperature tap water.

Just as the floral wizards promised, Quick Dip did the trick -- but with a surprise twist at the end. Right off the bat, the blooms on the undipped stems started to crinkle and the magnolia leaves began to curl.

One week later, the Quick Dip trio looked as perky as the day they got dunked.

Curiously, on Day 8, the Quick Dip rose took a dying bow, and never lifted its head again. The not-dipped rose wasn't nearly so sapped, though it, too, was starting to sag. The dipped yarrow and magnolia were still going strong into Week Two.