TALKING FLOWERS    Tips on Choosing the Freshest Flowers Do you regularly buy a bunch of fresh flowers to brighten up your home? Do you find that no matter which ones you buy, you just can't seem to get them to last past a few days, but friends regularly boast about how their flowers last for over a week? Sometimes I cringe when I see a bunch of flowers outside some supermarkets because I know what signs to look for that tell me whether or not they’re really fresh. But could you tell how fresh a bunch of flowers are when you see them for sale? Some of the top tips are Keep your flowers away from the fresh bowl of fruit. The reason is because fruit, particularly ripe bananas give off ethylene which hastens the demise of your fresh flowers.  If you think about it, placing a firm pear next to a banana in the fruit bowl, makes it soften up really quickly. Feel the stems to see if they’re fresh and not slimy. Slimy stems stems means they've been sitting around for more than a few day. If you can't feel the stems that cast a close eye on the actual petals and ask yourself, " are the petals showing any signs of curling or browning at the edges,?" If the answer is 'yes' then move onto the next bunch. Avoid buying flowers from the roadside. Roadside flowers have inhaled all those exhaust fumes and that's a speedy way to make them fade.   Don’t worry, Nadine Brown will tell us how lots more . I'm talking with Nadine Brown floral educator of www.theivyinstitute.com.au If you like buying fresh flowers you should listen to the podcast. If you have any questions you can email us [email protected] or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.