Saturday, May 26, 2007

give a penny, take a penny


i love using old-fashioned soda bottles for vases. especially orangina soda bottles. our friend zoran gave us a beatiful bunch of pale-pink tulips for our anniversary, and he gave us a tip. he said to put a penny in the vase, that that was what he had heard, that it keeps the stems straight. a penny? is it a chemical reaction to copper? well, i tried it, and wouldn't you know: it worked! for two weeks, they didn't droop once, even once they were dead. they were dead and straight. so then i thought i would try the penny trick with my other bunches of flowers i've been getting from trader joes, as advertised, to "brighten your day!" (which they do. splashes of color all over the apartment, in soda bottle vases.) even the giant gerber daisies, which have always had the hardest time holding their heads up, are standing tall and straight, with the loyal penny at their feet. and it's been five days and counting...

today at the grocery store, i noticed the woman behind me in the check-out line had a bunch of pale-pink tulips, practically wilting as we stood. i thought: if only she knew about the penny trick. why not? i'll pass it along. so i told her, and she was really excited. she beamed and said she was going to try it out as soon as she got home. who knows? maybe she'll tell someone else...

6 comments:

bandwidow said...

ah, i love cheap "home tricks" thanks!

lauren said...

thanks for sharing the wealth, my peonies are just starting to unravel so i'll get to test out your clever little trick here shortly!

melissa said...

oh man...too late for my peonies...i just looked...wilted to bits. will do next time. i love your photos, rach! they look so bright and beautiful!

Susie said...

Excellent tip! And I love how you give it with that hopes that maybe it will be passed along. Love the photos, too!! :o)

Unknown said...

Thank you for the tip...I am doing a science fair project on botany and whether or not pennies, asprin, or plant food packets help tulips live longer. Your expeience is helping me determine my hypothosis.
thanks again

bandwidow said...

totally have been using this during tulip season, thanks!