It's a week since Valentine's day. - If you were lucky enough to get British Flowers for your bouquet, then the flowers will be just over a week old since they were cut. They are likely to be still be alive, but after being in fresh, outside conditions for most of their lives coming inside to your living room or Kitchen will be something of a shock. - Here's how to make your flowers last that bit longer.

This is my bouquet, - i've been away for a couple of days, and it's been in the kitchen. - it's run out of water, and I didn't get round to cutting the hand tie.

The tulips have carried on growing, so what was originally nestled in the bouquet, is now flopping. There are some Narssisus that have had too long without water, and some of the foliage is looking a bit yellow.

So i've taken out anything that is dead or looking brown. - I've moved the tulips down in the bunch, so that they are once again snuggled in amongst the other flowers.

The next step is to cut the ends of the stems, so that they have a chance of taking up water again.

Scissors are fine for most bulbs and flowers, but foliage may need secateurs. You can cut on a slant, - this is meant to aid water take up, - but i've not found any difference, so mine all just get cut to the same length so that they fit square in the vase.

Take off anywhere between 1 and 3 centimetres depending on the type of flower. - this may mean that your vase is now too tall, and you need to change container. - Or maybe put something in the bottom of the vase to raise the flower level.

Clean out the vase, - I use a splash of bleach and a bottle brush to make sure there is no slime that can make the water turn colour. - Then fill with clean cool water.

You've now got a bouquet that will hopefully last another few days at least.