\ ; 
RYERSON EXPANSIBLE: ORCHID FOLDER 
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE HANDLING OF CUT 
Unlike other flowers, Orchid blooms should never be cut until they are fully open. 
They will not open properly in water. In fact, the texture will be better if the 
bloom has been open a full day before it is cut. 
Never use scissors in cutting your blooms if you want to get the most out of them. 
Scissors act as pincers, closing up many of the tubes through which the stem 
should be allowed to drink. Use either a razor blade or very sharp knife, making 
a diagonal cut that will give you as long a stem as possible. Plunge the stem 
immediately into fresh water (not ice water) and allow the bloom to "load" (drink 
up the fresh water) at room temperature for at least an hour before putting it in 
the refrigerator or making a corsage. 
It is amazing how the promptness of getting those fresh=cut stems into water will 
affect the lasting qualities of the blooms. To show you how important we feel it 
is, we never carry flowers from the greenhouse into the house before putting them 
in water. We take flasks of water along, cut a bloom, and into water it goes 
immediately. If we want to hurry the loading process, we make an additional 
lengthwise cut about an inch long, from the end of the stem. 
After the blooms are loaded,they are ready for use as corsage material or in 
floral arrangementse 
Contrary to common belief, Orchids lend themselves beautifully to arrangements. 
They are particularly adaptable to the table centerpiece that will not block your 
view of your guests or dinner companions. A tiny bud base, a bit of fern and an 
Orchid bloom will dress up a table for four without getting in anybody's way. A 
more elaborate arrangement can be made in a shallow dish with the aid of a block 
of "Snow Pack" (available at your nearest wholesale Florist) and “Water Picks" 
(pointed plastic tubes that will hold water and flower and can be inserted in the 
Snow Pack). 
Our favorite Orchid arrangement is made in a Shadow Box.... a large picture frame 
with a four-inch "box" built back of it of plywood, lined with velvet and contain- 
ing a number of deep holes through which the stems of flowers or foliage can be 
inserted. Back of the box, the stems fit into Orchid Tubes or Water Picks of 
fresh water. Such an arrangement will stay fresh and pretty from several days to 
two weeks, depending on the freshness and quality of the flowers. 
CORSAGES: Wire and tape the stems of your freshly loaded blooms. Use very fine 
wire for the small, spray or cluster type Orchids; heavier wire for large-stemmed 
Cattleyas. Make a loop of the wire and start as far up the stem as possible. You 
can either use one leg of the loop to supplement the strength of the stem and wind 
the other "leg" around the stem and wire; or you can criss-cross both "legs", 
first back, then in front of the stem, all the way down. 
Use floral-tape or parafilm to cover the wired stems and any left over wire ends. 
If properly wired and taped, the stem now can be gradually bent into almost any 
position you choose. If you are using two blooms, for example, one can be pointed 
with lip up and the other with lip down. In this way, a slightly damaged top 
sepal of one can be hid under the perfect sepal of the other. Or one bloom can 
be tilted with its lip pointed right while the other points left. If a stem lacks 
sufficient length, you can lengthen it with additional wire or with a wired "pick". 
