I’m sure we’ve all heard varying advice on how to preserve cut flowers — from adding Sprite and bleach in the water to cleaning out the leaves from the water, cutting stems and more. On a  trip to Tuscany, I took a floral arranging class at the Relais Borgo Santo Pietro with the serendipitously named florist, Rose (Wren), in a lovely cottage surrounded by antique roses and took advantage of the class to find out about prolonging the life of cut flowers. Here are the tips she shared:

• As soon as you bring the flowers home, cut the stems in a diagonal with a clean cut, being careful not to crush the stems
• The cooler the water, the better, but don’t shock them with ice
• A drop or two of bleach will work wonders
• Change the water every day or two and cut the stems every three days
• Keep fallen leaves out of the water as they cause the growth of bacteria
• If your roses are droopy, put the blossoms in hot water followed by cold

Speaking about the Relais, if gardens are your passion, it will be your heaven on earth.Why? Around every turn is yet another picturebook garden: besides the rose garden, a lake with towering reeds and a bridge that could be from a Japanese brush painting that’s the setting for art classes from a resident artisan; a medicinal herb garden that harkens back to medieval times when the property was a hotel for visiting pilgrims enroute to Jerusalem and serves to supply herbs used in spa treatments; a vegetable garden where seasonal vegetables supply the hotel’s kitchens; and finally, a garden with fountains and topiaries for an afternoon coffee or tea. There are 13 acres in all, 300K plants manned by no fewer than 5 gardeners. Even our room bore a garden inspiration – called the “Giardino del Fiori”. Stay tuned for more in an upcoming article I’m writing for Luhho magazine.