That third point turns out to be most of the aftercare as well. These stems carry a great deal of small leaf, far more than a rose or a lily does, and every leaf that ends up under the waterline rots inside a day or two. The cut end then blocks and the flower stops drinking while the head above it still looks perfectly healthy. Strip the lower foliage before the stems go anywhere near a vase, fill to about a third of the height, and change the water daily with a proper rinse of the glass. In a warm room that daily change is not a counsel of perfection but the difference between seven days and three. The heads themselves need nothing at all. Wrapping stays modest on this format, which suits the way it travels. Kraft, plain paper, twine, sometimes just a bound bunch with nothing round it, and no film or ribbon fighting the shape. Small heads take a knock better than an open peony, so the box can be carried flat along the coast road without much risk. We cover the west coast in 90 to 180 minutes, with separate windows for villas, marinas and airport runs. Between May and October, and on the hill roads in the evening, the route gets extra time built into it. The box often arrives wet on the outside during those months, and it should be opened under a roof: damp cardboard pressed against open ray petals creases them, and a creased petal will not straighten out afterwards. 
Timing matters more on this format than on most. A bunch that has already stood in water somewhere warm arrives with soft lower stems, and nothing done at home reverses that. For a resort birthday or a dinner by the sea we would rather build on the morning of the day than the evening before, and we say so when a date is booked in advance. Air at 25 to 33 °C shortens the visible life of anything cut, and this flower is no exception, though it holds better than its thin stems suggest. Reckon on about a week. That figure assumes the vase stands out of direct sun and away from an air conditioner blowing straight across it. Ageing here is worth recognising rather than fighting. The white rays fold back and drop, the centre darkens and rises, and the bunch slowly turns into something looser and less tidy than it was on the doorstep. That is ordinary flowering, not spoilage, and pulling the two or three worst stems out keeps the rest presentable for several more days.