Half the point of getting fresh flowers is showing them off: on Instagram, in the background of your Zoom calls, on your kitchen table…hold up. That last one may not be the best move after all, particularly if you’re positioning that bouquet next to a bowl of fruit. You’re creating a tablescape like you see in home magazines, you think. But in doing so, you’re actually dooming those buds to an early death.
“Fruit gives off an odorless invisible gas called ethylene, which is deadly for flowers,” explains Danielle Mason, vice president of consumer marketing at Teleflora. (This gas is harmless to humans and pets and shouldn’t be confused with ethylene glycol, which is a key ingredient in antifreeze and is highly toxic.)