Journal

How to Rescue Flopped Tulips

While there is nothing quite as beautiful as an ageing tulip undulating and swan diving, sometimes tulips have a tendency to fling themselves over the edge of the vase, turning into hoops that resist all attempts to straighten them.

If that happens to yours, this is how to rescue them.

• Take the tulips out of water and leave them somewhere flat until they are completely floppy.

• Lay them out straight as a bunch, with all the stem ends level.

• Wrap the tulips tightly in a cone of paper that will support them with straight stems. Make sure the stem ends are sticking out the bottom.

• Boil a kettle and pour boiling water into a mug or measuring jug.

• Fill a deep vase with luke warm water.

• Cut the bottom 2-3 cm. from the tulip stems, put the tulips immediately into the hot water, count to ten and them plunge into the vase, still in the cone of paper.

• Leave for 2-3 hours for the stems to fill with water and stiffen again.

• Remove the paper and arrange.

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