Extend the Vase Life of Your Tulips
Tulips are a sure sign that spring is coming in the Northeast. Every March I scour my local grocery store (in this case, Trader Joe’s) for tulips. I love all kinds of tulips, although peony tulips have a special place in my heart. The only problem with tulips is that they have a relatively short vase life. When paired with roses, feverfew, and other filler flowers, the tulips generally start to droop much faster than the other flowers.
Is there anything that will extend the vase life of tulips, beyond just flower food? It turns out there is — well, are two methods to help your tulips last longer in a vase.
A sample easter basket arrangement, featuring pink and white tulips, pink roses, chamomile, and pink sweet William.
I did an experiment to see what, if anything, would extend the vase life of my tulips. The most common recommendations online were to put a real copper penny in the vase (meaning any penny produced prior to 1982); to put a small hole through the neck of the tulip stem by the flower, to add one shot of vodka to the water, and to cut the tulip stems straight across, rather than on an angle.
Tulips on day 1 - all nice and tall, with buds just starting to open.
For this experiment, I put two tulips (each cut straight across) in each of the following vases:
(1) real copper penny, minted 1974
(2) small pinhole through the top of each stem
(3) one shot of vodka
(4) control, just plain ole tap water.
I took videos day and night over the course of 5 days. Here are my results:
Those same tulips on day 5 of the experiment, with the vodka shot and control tulips noticeably sadder.
It was clear by the 5th day of the experiment that the tulips in the copper penny and with the small pinhole were doing much better than the tulips in vodka water and plain tap water. While penny and pin methods were tied, I did notice that the tulips in the penny water were slightly more open than tulips with a pinhole. Could be a coincidence, or evidence that the pinhole method extends the tulips life ever so slightly more than the copper penny. The results are clear - if you want tulips that still look decent on day 5 and beyond - try the penny or pin methods. Save your good vodka for a spring-themed cocktail!
Is there another tulip method I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments!
