For All Tropical Flowers and Foliage:

Unpack carefully and immediately.

Trim ½ to 1 inch off of the stems with a sharp knife or scissors.

Every 3-4 days re-trim stems, clean the vase, and replace the water with fresh.

Occasionally mist flowers (except orchids sprays).

Anthuriums:

Submerge whole flowers in cool water 10-15 minutes.

Keep the flowers away from heat sources and drafts.

Dendrobium and Oncidium Orchid sprays:

Submerge flowers sprays in cool water 10-15 minutes.

Re-cut stems once or twice a week and change water daily.

Keep the flowers away from heat sources and avoid temperatures below 45°F.

Tropicals (Bird of Paradise, Heliconias, Gingers):

For Ginger: Soak the entire flower and stem in cool water for 10-15 minutes.

For Bird of Paradise: To bring out extra flowers, insert your thumb inside the sheath through the slit on the upper side and gently lift up a new flower.

Keep flowers away from heat sources, air conditioning drafts, and direct sunlight.

Foliage:

For Foliage: Trim ½ inch off the stem and immerse immediately in fresh water at room temperature for 15 minutes.

All Leis:

Unpack carefully and immediately.

Keep fresh leis away from heat sources and avoid temperatures below 45 F.

Store them on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. (A vegetable bin lined with newspaper works very well). Set your refrigerator on its warmest setting.

Dendrobium Orchid Leis  and Loose Orchids:

Mist the leis with fresh water and put them back in the box (or keep wrapped in the plastic covered with newspaper). Store them on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Set your refrigerator on its warmest setting.

Vanda Orchid Leis:

Mist the leis with fresh water and put them back in the box, but not in the plastic. Store them on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Set your refrigerator on its warmest setting.

Ti-leaf, Song-of-India, Song with Red Ginger Leis:

Mist the leis with fresh water lightly if they look dry, and put them back in the box, but not in the plastic. Store them on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Set your refrigerator on its warmest setting.

Set the leis out in the form you would like them to dry in – flat, curved, or hanging.

Maile Leis:

Mist the leis with fresh water and put them back in the box, but not in the plastic. Store them on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Set your refrigerator on its warmest setting.

Later, the lei may be dried out and hung up, or the leaves may be used to scent clothing.

Tuberose & Orchid Leis, and Kika Flower Leis:

Do not mist the leis. Place leis back in the box (or keep wrapped in the plastic covered with newspaper). Store them on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Set your refrigerator on its warmest setting.

Later, the Kika Flower Lei may be dried out and displayed – it will keep most of its color.

Haku Leis:

Mist the leis with fresh water and put them back in the box. Store them on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Set your refrigerator on its warmest setting.

Later, the Many-colored Haku Lei may be dried out and displayed – it will keep most of its color. The Hawaiian custom is to tie a haku lei to a hat, like hat band, and wear the dried lei that way for many years.

Tropical Flower FAQS

1. How do you arrange flowers?  For a loose arrangement just clip the ends, place the stems in the vase, pull flowers out and trim a bit here and there until you have a pleasing overall shape – this leaves the flowers available for regular trimming so they stay fresh the longest. A  more planned arrangement is achieved by placing the stems one at a time in one hand until you’re happy with the look, tie the stems together, and trim the bottom of the stems even.

2. What are the longest-lasting flowers?  Anthuriums will last from 7 to 14 days depending on care and variety.  Dendrobium Orchids will last from 5 to 8 days, while Oncidium Orchids will last 7 to 10 days.  Tropicals vary widely, but should last up to 5 days for the most delicate, 8 days for the hardier types.  All of this depends not only on the flower care in the home, but also the climatic conditions.  All tropical flowers need fresh water, misting, and avoidance of heat sources and drafts.

3. What flowers are easiest to arrange?  The Orchids are the very easiest, simply place in a vase and they will naturally arch and fill the space beautifully.  Anthuriums and Tropicals encourage creativity – they look beautiful just placed in a vase (exactly what our pictures show), or you can get very artistic experimenting with different sizes and placement of stems.

All flower and lei selections are shipped with full Care Instructions.

Single-strung Orchid Leis

How to make the beautiful orchid leis seen on the website.

 Supplies:

• # 10 crochet thread (doubled), waxed dental floss, or 10 pound test fishing line
• lei needle, or long needle with medium-sized eye
• 80 dendrobium orchid blossoms
• water mister
• tape measure
• felt-tip pen

Setting up:
Cut a length of thread (doubled) or dental floss (not doubled) 50 inches long.
Mark each end 5 inches from the end with the felt-tip pen.  It’s helpful to place
a clip of some sort (I use clothesline pins) at one end.
Thread your needle and…

Pluck the stem from each blossom, one at a time or pluck them all before you start. If you’re making a lot of leis, have one person string and one pluck.
	Sliding the needle on the ‘lip’ of the flower, pierce the flower about a 3/8-inch below the stub of the stem.
	Continue adding flowers on the needle, gently nesting the end of each flower into the ‘mouth’ of the next.  The line of pierced blossoms should look like a stack of nested hats. Grasp every 4-5 blossoms gently in the palm of your hand and move down to the end of the thread.
		String 80 blossoms for a 40″ lei.  Finish the lei by nesting the first and last flowers and tying a square knot.  Leave a ‘tail’ to carry the lei with until you are ready to present it.
Lightly mist each lei as you complete it and store in the vegetable bin (lined with newspaper) of your refrigerator in loose plastic bags.  Turn down the refrigerator if you can. Orchids are a lot like lettuce, they don’t like to be too cold and they will turn clear if they directly touch the sides of a cold refrigerator. The leis will last up to five days in the refrigerator, misting as needed – however, they are still best used no later than the next day.

EMERGENCY LEIS 101

It’s too late to order more leis, what can you do?

DIY FRESH FLOWER LEIS:

Carnations:

String each flower right through the center on a fairly thick thread – try #10 crochet thread, doubled.  Strung loose enough that the green bases can be seen uses 30 flowers for a 40″ lei, strung tight enough that the green flower bases are hidden by the next flower uses 50 flowers for a 40″ lei.

Although they don’t travel well in boxes, carnation leis should last 2-3 days if misted and placed in a bag on the bottom of the refrigerator.

Roses:

Look for spray roses.  String the same as for Carnations.  It takes 40 flowers for a 40″ lei.  Rose leis should last 2-3 days if misted and placed in a bag on the bottom of the refrigerator.

DIY CRAFT LEIS:

Synthetic Raffia:

Simple braided leis made from natural, died, or synthetic raffia are quite pretty!  Double the raffia for added thickness and tuck, glue, or sew bows, silk flowers, or craft pom-poms every 4-6 inches.

Net Leis:

Many craft stores carry net tubes or netting that can be rolled into a tube shape.  Place coins, paper money, or hard candy with knots in between to create a pretty lei – we actually see these every Graduation and Halloween in Hawai’i!