5 easy hacks to keep flowers fresh for a long time

If someone special bought you those flowers, every day you keep them is one more day you'll remember just how much you're loved. And if you bought them for yourself, well, you know exactly what you spent on those bad boys and you'd better get every penny's worth. Fresh flowers are one of life's greatest simple pleasures, and we can all use more of those. Extend their lifespan by several days with these simple tricks.

Material required: Aspirin, Hairspray, Vinegar, Sugar, Coins, Scissors

Sprinkle in crushed aspirin: Good for your heart health and your flowers' health, too. Behold the multidimensional power of aspirin! Add a crushed pill to a vase of water and let it dissolve before adding the flowers. This method doesn’t always generate the most dramatic results, but it certainly gets points for ease of execution. 

Spritz with hairspray:  Hairspray can aid in the process of preserving dried blooms, but did you know that the same stuff can also help you keep fresh flowers looking sharp? Hold a bouquet of flowers upside down and spritz the blooms with the hairspray. Keep the flowers upside down until the spray dries completely, then stick them in a vase of water.

Combine vinegar and sugar: When you think about vinegar and sugar together, you might think of ketchup or pickles. You probably don't think of delicate flowers. But because sugar feeds flowers, and vinegar keeps bacteria from growing as a result of that process, they can be powerful allies in the fight to keep your blooms looking their best. Pour a few tablespoons of each into a vase of fresh water and stir well before adding the flowers.

Give them your two cents:  Of all the easy ways to extend the life of your flowers, nothing’s easier than this. Drop a few old pennies into the vase. Yup, that’s it, that’s the whole trick! The copper keeps fungus from flourishing, slowing the wilting process and letting you get your money’s worth for that bouquet.

Prune them regularly:  Once you get the arrangement to look just right, it might be a little painful to pull the bouquet back out of the water. Do it anyway, because occasionally trimming the cut ends of the flowers can help prolong their life. Check the ends daily and snip any that are turning brown. Make sure to cut away any leaves that sit below the water line, too.