How to Take Care of Fresh Tulips in a Vase

Easy ways to keep tulips pretty & perky for over 1 week

Co-authored by Denise Porcaro Tupper and Devin McSween

Last Updated: March 18, 2024 Fact Checked

Nothing says "spring" like a beautiful bouquet full of sweet tulips. These flowers tend to have shorter vase lives than others, but by choosing tulips with unopened blooms, setting them in indirect light, and refreshing the water daily, you can make them last for up to 10 days. Follow along with us as we share all the tulip care tips you need to keep your flowers perky and beautiful for longer!

Things You Should Know

Select a tulip bouquet that is full of lightly colored and tightly closed blooms.
Cut the stems at a 45° angle, remove the bottom leaves, and place the tulips in cold water.
Set the vase in indirect light away from heat and change the water daily.

1

Select a bouquet with unopened flower buds.

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Choose tulip blooms that are lightly colored and tightly closed. While you might be tempted to buy tulips with fully-opened petals, they won’t last as long as unopened buds. Selecting a bouquet with closed blooms helps extend the tulips’ vase life from 5 days to over a week. The flowers open over the course of a few days, letting you enjoy their sweet buds and gorgeous, bright blooms.^{[1]
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- If you're growing your own tulips, cut the flowers before they’re fully opened and as close to the ground as possible.

2

Wrap the stems in a wet cloth or paper towels.

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Any time the tulips are out of water, they start to get dehydrated and age faster. Even if the distance from the flower shop to your house isn't very far, wrap the stems in damp paper towels or a washcloth to ensure they don't prematurely dry out.

3

Cut the stems at a 45° angle.

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Cutting the stems at an angle gives the flower more surface area to soak up water, allowing them to stay hydrated and fresh looking for longer. Just use a clean pair of clippers to snip each tulip stem at a 45° angle.^{[2]
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Expert Source

Denise Porcaro Tupper
Floral Design Expert

Expert Interview. 5 April 2022.}

4

Fill a clean vase with cold water.

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Cold water and a freshly washed vase keep blooms perky for longer. Choose a vase that’s at least half as tall as the tulip stems. Simply wash it with soap and water to ensure it doesn’t have any dirt or grime left over from your last bouquet. Then, fill the vase about ½ full with cold water.^{[3]
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- Tulips are one of the only flowers that keep growing while they’re in a vase. Using a tall vase can prevent elongating blooms from bending over and wilting.
- Always clean your vases before adding fresh flowers. A dirty vase full of bacteria can cause your flowers to rot more quickly.
- Cold water helps keep the flower stems fresh and crisp, while warm or hot water can cause them to get weak and soggy.

5

Remove the leaves from the base of the stems.

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Look for any leaves on the tulip stems that will be submerged in the water when you put them in the vase. Then, snip or gently pull off the leaves. The leaves can rot in the water and infect the flowers, causing them to go limp or die more quickly than usual.^{[4]
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Expert Source

Denise Porcaro Tupper
Floral Design Expert

Expert Interview. 5 April 2022.}

6

Insert the tulips in the vase.

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Arrange the flowers so they all have room inside the vase. Giving each stem plenty of space, rather than leaning them on top of one another, prevents them from crushing each other. When tulips are squeezed tightly inside a vase, the petals can drop prematurely and shorten the lifespan of your flowers.^{[5]
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- Use a mixture of short and tall tulips to improve the breathing room in the vase and make a more eye-catching arrangement.^{[6]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Denise Porcaro Tupper
  Floral Design Expert
  
  Expert Interview. 5 April 2022.}

7

Sprinkle flower food into the water.

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Adding flower preservative helps lengthen the tulips’ lifespan. Most flower bouquets come with a packet of nutrient-rich flower food to keep your tulips standing tall and looking perky. Just read the instructions on the packet to find out how much food to add for the amount of water in the vase; do not dump in the entire contents at once.^{[7]
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- Sprinkling flower food in the vase is more effective at preserving your flowers than household tricks like adding lemon juice, pennies, and other materials.^{[8]
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8

Trim the stems and change the water every day.

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Replace the water with fresh, cold water daily. Tulips drink a lot of water to stay hydrated and looking perky and fresh. Every day, pour out the water in the vase, recut the bottom of the stems at a 45° angle, and add in fresh, cold water. This also helps prevent bacteria from accumulating in the vase that can cause the tulips to wilt prematurely.^{[9]
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- If you see the water level getting low during the day, top off the vase with fresh, cold water.
- Sprinkle more flower food into the water after each water change.

9

Place the flowers in indirect light and away from heat.

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Setting the vase in a warm, sunny spot can cause tulips to wilt. Tulips are phototropic flowers, which means that they move toward their light source. The best way to keep them straight and perky is to place them in a spot that gets indirect, equal light from all sides. Just set them in a room that’s away from direct light, a heater, or an oven because heat can cause the tulips to wilt.^{[10]
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- In the evening, move your tulips to a cool spot, like your refrigerator or garage, to help preserve them for longer.^{[11]
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- Keep your flowers away from fruits like bananas, apples, and avocados. These fruits produce ethylene gas which can cause your tulips to age and wilt faster.
- If your tulips start to bend, rotate the vase every day to ensure the flowers get an equal amount of light.
- Or, poke a pin through 1 side of the stem (not all the way through to the other side) and just underneath the flower. This helps release air bubbles inside the stem that cause the tulip to droop.

10

Avoid using daffodils in your arrangement.

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Tulips can wilt when arranged with flowers in the Narcissus species. Daffodils and other flowers in the Narcissus species exude a toxic sap that poisons the water and causes other flowers to fade and die faster.^{[12]
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- It’s safe to arrange tulips with most other flowers, like hydrangeas and roses.

Expert Q&A

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Question

Do you cut tulips diagonally?

Denise Porcaro Tupper
Floral Design Expert
Denise Porcaro Tupper is a Floral Design Expert, as well as the Founder & Owner of Flower Girl NYC. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, she specializes in curating lush, whimsical bouquets, large dramatic installations, and everything in between. Denise has worked with notable clientele including Vogue, Chanel, Proenza Schouler, and Marc Jacobs, and has also had numerous collaborations with companies such as Liberty of London, Gap, and Coach.

Denise Porcaro Tupper

Floral Design Expert

Expert Answer

A slanted angle is preferred but, depending on what you're working with, it is not necessary. The idea behind the slanted cut is that you'll give the stem more surface area to be able to soak up more water.

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Question

What are the most beautiful tulips?

Denise Porcaro Tupper
Floral Design Expert
Denise Porcaro Tupper is a Floral Design Expert, as well as the Founder & Owner of Flower Girl NYC. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, she specializes in curating lush, whimsical bouquets, large dramatic installations, and everything in between. Denise has worked with notable clientele including Vogue, Chanel, Proenza Schouler, and Marc Jacobs, and has also had numerous collaborations with companies such as Liberty of London, Gap, and Coach.

Denise Porcaro Tupper

Floral Design Expert

Expert Answer

Well, they are all beautiful. The choice usually boils down to personal preference or the kind of arrangement you want to make. If you're doing a low lush arrangement, then I would stay with the shorter tulips, whereas if you want something more wild and free, then go for something like a french tulip.

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Question

Will my tulips last longer if I place them in the fridge overnight?

Community Answer

Yes, this works for most flowers, tulips included. If you don't have enough room in your fridge, you can just take the vase to the coolest part of your house. For example, place tulips in the hall, right in front of the front door, if it's the coolest there. If it's not below freezing point outside, you can also just keep the tulips on the balcony or porch overnight.

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Tips

Leave the plastic wrap around the tulips for a couple of hours after you put them in the vase to help keep the stems straight.

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For extreme bending, wrap your tulips tightly in damp newspaper and place them back in the vase of cold water.

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Place the tulips in an irregularly shaped vase if the stems are twisted.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

The general rule of thumb for arranging flowers is that the bouquet should be about one and one-half times the height of the vase. Tulips work well in tall, straight vases.
Keep tulips at temperature at or below 75 degrees F or 23 degrees C. The cool temps will sustain bright tulips.
When you cut tulips, try cutting them on a diagonal angle instead of a straight angle.
Fill the vase with lukewarm water, not ice cold, which is taken up better by the stems.

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Warnings

Aspirin, lemon juice, pennies, soda, and other materials don’t reliably extend the life of tulips; they are mostly just myths.

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Immediately place tulips in water after cutting them so they don’t dry out.

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