After all the colour in my vase last week I fancied using whites today. White poppy ‘Perry’s white’ I think, with Ammi majus, and Erigeron.
I watched as much of the Virtual Chelsea coverage as I could and one bit I saw was Sarah Raven demonstrating how to condition flowers for a vase. I have sacrificed one of my precious perennial poppies for this vase and hopefully her technique will mean that it will last.
The trick is to sear the freshly cut stem of the poppy for at least ten seconds in boiling water and then plunge it into cold water. A trick? Not really. A technique that perhaps you have all be doing anyway. Hopefully it will work and my poppy will stay as fresh as a, well a daisy.
I hope you and our host Cathy have had a good Monday especially if it is a bank holiday where you are. The sun has shone all day and it looks to be a nice week ahead.
Have a good week, wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
digwithdorris.com 
Colour is good, but your calming vase made me sigh deeply Dorris. Lovely. And I do hope your poppy lasts all week. 😃
Oh that’s lovely to hear, thanks Cathy. I shall report back on the poppy
The different whites make for a very appealing vase, Dorris, and the poppy is beautiful. I must try and find seed for it or if not perhaps you could save me some? I have grown other herbaceous ones from seed and was amazed at how quickly they grew into decent plants. Do tell us how long yours lasts in water. I watched most of the evening virtual Chelsea programmes, but not the afternoon ones – is it worth going back and seeing any of them on iPlayer?
I will report back in the poppy Cathy. I only saw the evening shows but I have watched Adam frost in his garden online.
I didn’t see the Sarah Raven bit, must have been in the one I didn’t see. Is Adam Frost doing his own thing online?
Hi Cathy
Go to rhs.org.uk find virtual Chelsea then a tour of my patch with Adam frost
It is a walk around his garden, rather enjoyable and interesting
I’ve used the searing technique with some flowers, especially those that tend to seep but I’ve yet to try an experiment to see how much of a difference it really makes. I’ve been watching Virtual Chelsea programs too but I don’t think they’re all available to us via YouTube in the US.
Have you enjoyed the virtual coverage? So nice to have an hour of garden pretty visuals.
We can access coverage through the bbc iPlayer can you get that?
That is calming, I tried the poppy thing with Oriental Poppies and a match…not successful, though I love the Poppy. I don’t think I am a good stem searer. Wish you luck.
Thank you. I seared the poppy stem for a good ten seconds in boiling water then plunged it into cold water. The petals dropped today (weds) an improvement but not fantastic
Oh yes. Your white flowers are peaceful and beautiful. The searing technique didn’t improve vase time when I tried it with hellebores. Please let us know how this does.
I float hellebores as that seems to keep them better for longer. Searing for a good ten seconds then plunged into cold water definitely improved the poppy. The petals dropped today and it has been very warm in the house. So an improvement but not long life. I shall try again
That is an impressive poppy!
Thanks
You are welcome, but I was talking about the flower.