10-day tier
The keeping band. Stems here are either low-ethylene by nature or have a biocide-tolerant stem structure. Reaching ten days almost always means the water was changed on schedule rather than when it looked dirty.
Vase-life band 10 days Stems reaching this band 6 Stems that fall short 7
| Stem profiles | 5 d · days | 7 d · days | 10 d · days | 14 d · days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Hydrangea Woody · Boil · Vase range 5–10 days · Water every 24h | 5 days changes 5 | 7 days changes 7 | 10 days changes 10 | 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 |
| 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 |
Stems that fall short
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Delphinium
Delphinium is the archive's most ethylene-fragile stem and one of its two hollow-stemmed entries. It is also the tallest common cut flower, which means the air embolus has further to travel and the stem has further to bend.
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Stock
Stock is the archive's water-fouling champion: a single bunch can turn a bucket cloudy in under 20 hours. It is also intensely fragrant and ethylene-sensitive, which makes it a stem that rewards a strict routine and punishes a casual one.
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Sunflower
A sunflower drinks more water per day than any other stem in this archive — up to 150 mL for a single large head — and its milky sap feeds bacteria better than sugar water does. Both problems are addressed at the cut end.
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Dahlia
Dahlia is the archive's shortest-lived garden stem and the one where the cut treatment matters most. Its stem is hollow and milky; a plain cut will have the flower nodding within 24 hours, while a seared cut adds two to three days.
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Gerbera
A gerbera stem is a hollow tube about 4 mm across with a single ring of vessels. Air enters it instantly and irreversibly if the cut is made in air — which is why this is the one stem in the archive where cutting under water is mandatory rather than optional.
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Tulip
The tulip is the archive's shortest-lived stem by design. Its 3–7 day window is not a failure of care — it is the plant finishing a programme it started in the bulb. Everything useful you can do happens in the first hour.
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Garden rose
The garden rose is the archive's reference woody stem. Its 4/5 lignification rating means the vase is won or lost at the cut end, not at the petals — a blocked xylem here shows up as a nodding head roughly 36 hours before any petal symptom.