Illinois Gift Baskets

This method of extending cut Illinois flower life may sound a bit drastic but it is quite effective.

1. Have two clean buckets ready. Rinse them out with some bleach solution first.
2. Boil some water in a kettle and fill bucket No.1 with 2 inches of the boiled water.
3. Fill bucket No. 2 with 4 inches of cool water.
4. Cut a half inch or so from the stems of your flowers or foliage and put them in the hot water for 20 seconds, no longer.
5. Take them out and put them in the cool water.
6. You should add 2 teaspoons of household bleach and a pinch of citric acid to each bucket to inhibit any further bacterial growth.

The steaming induces a rush of natural sugars to the Illinois flower heads and gets the stems "drinking". Steaming is beneficial to flowers that may have been out of water for a length of time.