Everyone loves receiving a fresh delivery of beautiful flowers. Who doesn’t, right? It’s one of the most lovely feelings in the world! You might think that it’s hard a thing to pick the freshest beautiful blooms from a shop because it’s not realistic for people to do this every day. But actually, it’s really easy to identify which flowers are healthy and which are waning. Whether you’re getting flowers for someone or just want to surround your home with gorgeous blooms, you better read this for tips in picking the freshest flowers!

How to Spot Strong Flowers:

1. Fine leaves and stems. Don’t just be attracted by looking at the color or look of the flower. Try to see the leaves and stems, make sure they are moist and firm, not dry and mushy. Also, if the stems are green and solid, the flowers are healthy.

2. Measure the blooms. Sometimes you think that biggest dazzling opened flowers are the right ones to pick, but don’t be tempted! They may look healthy but blooms that are too opened are already at their highest point and will have a shorter shelf life. This is also the same with blooms that are too closed and compact, they have a big possibility of not opening at all. So just go for blooms that are neither too opened or too closed.

3. In their current season. A lot of stores and shops carry flowers that are locally grown in the current season. Flowers are just as the same as vegetables and fresh fruits if they are in their current season, you can be sure that they are tastiest and sweetest.

4. Examine. Don’t be shy or embarrassed if you’re acting like a professional florist walking around the store examining the flowers because as a customer you have the right to.

Now that you have ideas on how you can pick the right healthy flowers and want to display it in your home, here are few more tips so you can have a great flower arrangement.

• Keep away from pre-mixed grocery store bouquets. Pre-made grocery store bouquets are usually less fresh, so it’s not really good to break up these kinds of bouquets into smaller arrangements. They are more likely to droop and sag faster. These kind of bouquets are not healthy that they are normally padded with many unnecessary greenery.

• Get the most gorgeous flower you can look for. The flower that you will pick will be the central point, the flower that you want to look at all week. For me, I like roses not only they are old-fashioned, but there’s just something in them that’s really beautiful especially the creamy ones with a touch of peach or pink.

• Look for a piece of greenery. When you want to have a unique flower arrangement, try to combine it with something green and fascinating. Try to play it with greenery, just pick the right shade of the flower to complement well with the greenery.

You can follow these tips but I think that flower arrangements are a personal thing and you don’t really need to follow certain rules. Also, after you’re done looking for the best flowers, take care of them and dunk them in some water so it will last.

Author bio: Ivandrea Ollero is a daytime writer for Roses Only, one of New York’s finest flower shop that offers the best roses available from around the world. Ivandrea passionately loves flowers and writing about floristry. She graduated from St. Scholastica's College Manila, Philippines with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication minor in Broadcast Journalism.