Hi Connie,

I have checked both of my books on cutting flowers and here's what is stated in "A Garden for Cutting" by Margaret Parke: "Cerain plants reqire an extra step. The cut stems of poppies, hollyhocks, hibiscus, and oleander, for instance, ooze a milky or yellowish latex. If the ends of the stems are untreated, this sap will coagulate and clog the stem's water-conducting tubes. To prevent this, make a few slits in the stem end and sear it for about half a minute over a candle or gas flame, or dip it into a few inches of boiling water for about a minute. Take care to apply heat only briefly lest too many of the waer conducting cells be damaged in the process. Finish conditioning in a deep, water-filled container."

I am disappointed that my newest book, "Garden to Vase" by Linda Beutler, mentions nothing about this treatment in the index of flowers and their treatment. The only thing noted is "Harvest hollycocks when the bottom third of the florets have opened. Once the stem is cut, more florets will open; the entire stem should last ten days."

I hope this helps. I know it is a late response; however, I have been traveling all week and unable to consult my "bibles!"

Teresa

Hi Connie,

I am growing hollyhocks for the forists and the market - what I do is cut them low (I've got a short variety) when at least three flowers are open, and then cut off all the leaves. I've noticed that if I don't cut off every single leaf the stems go droopy, but without leaves they stay nice and straight. I don't sear, and I do put them in Chrysal CVB, some sort of preservative for growers.
Good luck!

Arjen - Wealden Flowers, UK

teresa~ Funny thing, I was looking today into buying a book on using cut garden flowers in floral arrangements and one of the recommended book was Linda Beutler's "Garden to Vase". So, I went to Amazon.com to check it out. I chose "Surprise me" as the review option, and they came up with the part regarding conditioning daffodils and other plants with milky sap. It was so fascinating, I kept "turning pages" to read the entire section!

She says that sealing the cut ends of the flowers is out; dipping them in warm water ("rinsing") for 15 minutes is what she recommends. You fill two buckets half full of warm water, cut your stems and put them right away in the water, check the ends after 15 minutes, and if they still have clotted ends, you put them right away in the fresh bucket of water for another 15 minutes. You repeat this process until the ends are clear, so that the flowers can still take up water, since you haven't destroyed the plant tissue.

The idea is that, if you do a thorough enough job of conditioning them, you can use them in mixed arrangements without contaminating the other flowers. You can even re-cut the stems if necessary. I thought you'd like to know. :)

I'm totally new to all of this, but thought you might like to know that's in your book, somewhere.