odd flower arranging question

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

So this forum is for discussing any and everything, right? Well maybe someone reading knows the answer to this question.

Do really in-the-know florists heat seal the bottom stem of daffodils before adding them to an arrangement?

I think I read years ago in an Ikebana book to heat seal the stems of daffodils with a match. That has always sounded horrifying and counterintuitive given that we normally put flowers into a vase of water and hope that they will uptake water.

However, if you've picked daffodils and needed more than half a minute to get the into water, you probably know that they immediately ooze at the stem as if under pressure. And the ooze is viscous, making it seem that when plunged in water they will not take up any water, but lose their own "sap" into the water. If that is true then heat sealing makes sense.

Well I tried it last night, though I might not have hit them with heat long enough. So far the flowers look fine.

Any knowledge of this?

[LuxLiving]

read down the page...

Garden to Vase: Growing and Using ... - Google Book Search

[Bookie]

Google "sealing daffodil stems" and you'll find quite a bit of information.

Interesting question. It seems the sap is actually toxic.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Thanks to you both. I actually had tried to google the info, but must have done so with peculiar terms. The ones you used seem like the obvious choice.