When it comes to care and handling information, cut
foliages always get second billing to cut blooms. Flowers are colourful
and bright and wield a flashy in-your-face position so they get more
press time about good handling techniques. The beauty of cut foliages,
on the other hand, is subtle and refined.
Although foliage care is not as tricky (or picky) as flower care, foliages are living products that respond very positively to specific handling methods.
The best way to discuss cut greens is to group them. The largest group comprises foliages grown in sub-tropical or tropical areas like Florida and Costa Rica. King of the hill is leather leaf, which comprises over 40 per cent of all cut foliage sold. It also includes ferns like sprengerii, plumosa and tree fern. Ferns are resilient and can take the same temperatures cut flowers need, but only if they are protected in closed boxes. Good leather leaf growers hydro-cool bunches after harvest (40 F) to remove field heat. Then bunches are treated with a leaf shine and preservative, wetted-down and held in cooler at 34-38 F until packed. Bunches are packed upside down to prevent breakage and pre-cooled prior to shipping (34-38 F). Foliages are shipped in waxed boxes with plastic inner liners. Usually, these boxes are stapled shut. Take care when opening. Avoid tearing apart the flaps because you want those flaps to re-close the box.
How can I keep my leather and tree fern fresh longer?
The trick to longevity with this group of foliages is avoiding desiccation from cold air blowing over exposed foliage. Simply put, that means cover the product with the plastic liner and re-close the boxes every time you dig in to grab a bunch.
How should I care for Eucalyptus?
For years, the dominant florist euc varieties were spiral and baby blue, but within the past decade, variety availability has exploded. Now we have a plethora of eucalyptus leaf shapes and sizes for use in floral design. Euc is very hardy. In fact, it does best when treated like cut flowers. Cut bunches and place in buckets filled with either a hydration solution or a low-sugar flower food solution. Both solutions stimulate flow into stems and control stem clogging from bacteria populations that want to explode in the water. Another reason you want to process euc in floral solutions is to prevent ethylene production. Research shows that some euc varieties produce significant amounts of ethylene if left dry for more than 16 hours after harvest.
What should I look for when choosing bunches?
When buying eucalyptus, check to make sure there are no immature tips. At certain times of the year, stems are harvested before the new growth has properly matured. These immature tips are just too soft to draw water properly, so they crisp up and die fast.
What is the secret to handling cotinus, philodendron, ivy, photinia, papyrus, tropical foliages and oak leaves?
Cut and process these foliages in a hydration solution (not a flower food). The difference between the two solutions is that hydration solutions are all and only about getting flow going and keeping the solution free from stem-clogging pollutants. Unlike flower foods, hydration solutions contain no nutrients (sugar). With some foliages, sugar can stimulate leaf yellowing. Ask your supplier for Chrysal Professional #1 or Floralife Hydraflor and follow the dosing instructions listed on the containers.
Do you have any suggestions for rose hips, berries and cattails?
Rose hips and berries should be treated in hydration or low-sugar flower food solutions to kick-start flow into stems and keep things clean and flowing.
Properly mixed solutions are active for five to seven days. Keep cattails out of any kind of solution (including tap water). Cattails are the seed pods of the plant and when allowed to drink water, that firm structure will blow apart and you’ll have fuzzy floating pieces of cat-tail material everywhere.
Is it helpful to treat foliages and berried branches with an ethylene protector like Ethylbloc?
Generally, foliages are not big producers of ethylene. Research shows that the benefits of Ethylbloc on cotinus, photinia, physocarpus, symphoricarpos, calicarpa, hosta and cornus is marginal at best. Your best defense is to avoid exposure to ethylene sources like fruits and veggies, combustion engines, and cigarette smoke.
Are there any foliages that I can leave dry?
Speaking from personal experience (my comments are not supported by research), I’ve found there are some types of foliages that can be categorized as “bullet proof.” These include euonymous, huckleberry, salal, myrtle and Italian and Israeli ruscus. These foliages are super tough and can be left in the wax boxes in which they are packed. I recommend closing the plastic liners and boxes at the end of every day to keep the moisture high and the foliages flexible.
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