Flowers contain a vascular system which works to keep the flowers fed and hydrated. Each flower is constantly losing water through its leaves due to transpiration, so they rely on drawing water up from the bottom of the stems in order to stay alive.

Water has some special properties known as adhesion and cohesion. Water tends to stick to the sides of a container - adhesion, and also sticks to itself - cohesion. Think about water droplets sticking to the shower glass (adhesion), and a coaster sticking to a mug (cohesion). It’s these principles that allow water to be drawn up through the stem as the flower loses water (transpires).

As soon as the stems are taken out of water, tiny air bubbles form where the bottom of the stems are exposed to the air. These air bubbles break the water chain, so reduce the stickiness of the water - it reduces the waters’ ability to cohere, and therefore stops the chain of water being drawn up through the exposed stem.

Once the stems are removed from water, air bubbles form at the exposed end of the stems. It’s important that these air bubbles are removed prior to submerging the stems again to maintain the water chain and allow the plant to replace water it loses to transpiration.

When it comes to snipping your stems, there are a few best practices which you should try to follow to ensure you care for your flowers as best as possible.

Use very sharp secateurs (or scissors), and make sure they are thoroughly cleaned before use. Blunt and dirty instruments will damage the stems and can introduce bacteria which will accelerate the ageing of your flowers.

Cut at a 45 degree angle, at least a centimetre from the bottom of the stems, this will ensure you are removing all the air bubbles that have formed when the stems were exposed to the air.

Cut the stems as close as possible to the moment they are to be placed in water, to avoid more air bubbles forming. It’s a good idea to arrange your flowers first, then snip, then place in the water.

Clean your secateurs or scissors immediately after placing the flowers in the vase.