Vase-life ladder
Four entry bands, read across. Each cell is the number of days a stem holds at that band, and the number of water changes it costs to get there.
All four bands
In season now Santini chrysanthemum · Alstroemeria · Carnation
| Stem profiles | 5 d · days | 7 d · days | 10 d · days | 14 d · days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santini chrysanthemum Semi-woody · Slant 45° · Vase range 10–14 days · Water every 48h | 5 days changes 2 | 7 days changes 3 | 10 days changes 5 | 14 days changes 7 |
| Alstroemeria Semi-woody · Slant 45° · Vase range 7–14 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | 10 days changes 10 | 14 days changes 14 |
| Carnation Semi-woody · Slant 45° · Vase range 7–14 days · Water every 48h | 5 days changes 2 | 7 days changes 3 | 10 days changes 5 | 14 days changes 7 |
| Gypsophila Herbaceous · No treatment · Vase range 7–10 days · Water every 48h | 5 days changes 2 | 7 days changes 3 | 10 days changes 5 | None |
| Lisianthus Herbaceous · Slant 45° · Vase range 7–10 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | 10 days changes 10 | None |
| Hydrangea Woody · Boil · Vase range 5–10 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | 10 days changes 10 | None |
| Delphinium Herbaceous · Cut under water · Vase range 5–7 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | None | None |
| Gerbera Herbaceous · Cut under water · Vase range 5–7 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | None | None |
| Garden rose Woody · Slant 45° · Vase range 5–7 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | None | None |
| Stock Woody · Slant 45° · Vase range 5–7 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | None | None |
| Sunflower Herbaceous · Sear · Vase range 5–7 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | None | None |
| Dahlia Herbaceous · Sear · Vase range 4–7 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | None | None |
| Tulip Herbaceous · Slant 45° · Vase range 3–7 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | None | None |
Vase solutions
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Commercial preservative powder
The sachet that comes taped to a bunch of flowers is not a marketing extra — it is the most effective single thing you can put in the vase, and it is formulated at a sugar concentration you cannot easily reproduce at home.
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Sucrose + citric baseline
This is the archive's control recipe. It contains exactly two ingredients and no preservative, which makes it the cheapest solution here and the one that most clearly demonstrates what sugar alone can and cannot do.
Bouquet structures
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Spiral hand-tied
The spiral is the only bouquet structure in this archive that holds itself up without a grid, a pin holder or floral foam. Its stability comes entirely from geometry: every stem crosses every other stem exactly once, and the resulting lattice carries the load.