Vases: material, weight, and the washing nobody considers at purchase
A vase looks like something chosen by eye. In practice it decides how long a bouquet survives. The neck sets how the stems sit, the material affects the water, and the weight determines whether the whole thing stays upright.
Material is the easiest place to start, because it dictates both the cleaning routine and the situations the vase actually suits.
Four materials, four temperaments
Clear glass shows the stems and the water completely. Handsome with fresh water and merciless with cloudy water, so it belongs to households that change it every other day.
Coloured and frosted glass hides murk and also hides the water level, which then has to be checked by hand or by tilting.
Ceramic is opaque, heavy and stable, which makes it the right answer for large bouquets on woody stems. Some ceramic is left unglazed inside, and unglazed clay absorbs odour, so it needs a more thorough wash than glass.
Metal looks striking in a room and demands attention to the water. Without an internal coating it oxidises, and oxidation shortens the life of the flowers standing in it.
Shape follows the bouquet
There is no universal vase, but three shapes cover most situations between them.
1. A straight sided cylinder holds a dense bouquet upright and suits roses and single variety bunches. 2. A tapered form gathers stems into a bundle and works for medium density mixed bouquets. 3. A low wide bowl takes peonies, hydrangeas and anything built on short stems.
The proportion rule holds almost everywhere: a vase about half the height of the finished bouquet. At that ratio the arrangement neither drowns nor leans forward.
A heavy base matters more than an elegant profile. A vase that tips over ends the bouquet in one second.
Washing, and why it buys days
That slippery film on the inside of a vase is bacterial. It survives from the previous bouquet and shortens the life of the next one substantially, even with clean water poured over it.
Wash with detergent and a brush, and clear narrow necks with a bottle brush or hot water with baking soda. Rinsing alone does not remove the film, which is why some vases seem to kill flowers for no visible reason.
If a vase is being sent as a gift alongside flowers worldwide, factor in the weight. Ceramic plus water plus a full bouquet adds up, and all of it arrives in one pair of hands.
JFLOO lists vases among the bouquet add ons. Choose on three numbers: neck diameter, height and weight. Together they describe a vase far more accurately than any photograph of it.
