by Lynn Edwards

Created on: May 11, 2008

For something that gives so much pleasure and beauty to the world, the fresh flower has gotten a bad reputation as of late. People claim they're expensive. They're only going to die. Yet, people don't think anything of spending $10 - $30 on a meal, despite the fact that they have to eat again several hours later. Putting that same amount of money into flowers and you can have your spirits lifted every time you look at them for a week and sometimes two, if you're lucky. After all flowers are biological, and like people, they don't always do what's expected of them.

Unless you're fortunate to have your own garden, the best place to purchase your flowers is at a flower shop. Since florists deal directly with a wholesaler, they get their flowers the soonest, and you can buy the freshest, which last the longest. Grocery stores and chain stores with floral departments have flowers that have traveled most of their short lives, from wholesaler to regional warehouse to local warehouse to the retail outlet. Their prices may be slighter lower, but the quality is substantially less, as is their vase life. It may be more convenient, especially with gas prices as they are now, to buy a bunch of posies on your way home, but if being able to enjoy the blooms that you've bought for several more days is important to you, then it's worth the trip to the local florist.

The longest lasting of the cut flowers is the carnation, which is also the cheapest. Carnations come in a wide variety of solid colors, as well as variegated. It's not uncommon to have them last a couple of weeks. Mini-carnations, which have several blooms to a stem, have the same characteristics as their larger cousins. When purchasing these, feel the underside of the blossom right next to the stem. The tighter they are, the fresher they are.

Alstromeria is another long lasting and popular flower, which also has several blossoms to a stem. They come in all sorts of colors as well. These you want to purchase just as they are opening. Sometimes, (remember living things aren't 100% predictable), when the buds are tightly closed, they don't open at all. There's no way you can predict which of these stems will be stubborn, so, to be on the safe side, pick ones that are just emerging. Once they open fully, they remain can remain that way for a week.

Daisies are also durable flowers that have several blooms on one stem. Yellow, lavender and white are their primary colors, but in the fall, there are several gold, bronze and

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