15 Longest Lasting Cut Flowers

From fragrant garden roses to zesty zinnias, the 19 longest lasting cut flowers can be found here!

A bouquet of fresh cut flowers on the table is a delight for the senses and a soothing balm for the soul. With proper care, many flowers can last for many days- and a few can even thrive for several weeks!

pink tulips as cut flowers to display in the home

While there are many flowers that work well in arrangements, there are some flower varieties that simply last longer when cut.

We’re sharing the longest lasting cut flowers here so you know which types of flowers to grow for flower arrangements with enurance. All of these flowers can be featured in a cutting garden in your own backyard – and we’ve rated how easy each variety is to grow.

Make sure to scroll to the end of the article for our best tips for getting the longest life out of your beautiful flowers.

Table of Contents

Let’s jump into the best list of long-lasting flowers and how long you can expect them to thrive in your home.

We’ve labeled these flowers by season to help you grow cutting flowers for all year:

Dwarf Sunflowers

Easy to grow and incredibly charming, dwarf sunflowers are a popular cut flower for summertime. These sun loving annuals come in many varieties, like the fuzzy Teddy Bear variety shown here. Sunflowers make a cheerful display in summer and fall, and with the right conditions the cut flower blooms can last for up to 7 days.

Harvest flowers early in the morning and set them directly into cool water. Change out the vase with fresh water every other day for best results.

Season: Fall + Summer
Vase life: 5-7 days
Growing Conditions: Full sun, well draining soil
Difficulty: Easy to grow
Annual

Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbekia)

Black-Eyed Susan are perennial flowers that have rich tones of bright yellow flowers contrasting with darker center disks. Prolific bloomers and easy to grow, Rudbekia are one of the longest lasting cut flowers at 10 days of vase life.

According to Erin of Floret Farm, Black-Eyed Susans have a tendency to muddy the vase water. This professional florist recommends adding a few drops of bleach to the vase water to keep it clean and prolong the vase life of the flowers.

Season: Fall + Summer
Vase life: 5-7 days
Growing Conditions: Full sun, well draining soil
Difficulty: Easy to grow
Perennial

Zinnias

Zinnias are iconic summer flowers that will keep producing blooms up until the first frost of fall. As prolific bloomers you can harvest many flower arrangements from just one plant.

These summer annuals are one of the easiest flower types to grow from seed and when harvested at the right time zinnias have a long vase life. Be sure to remove any lower leaves from the stem to prevent bacterial growth and extend vase life.

Season: Summer + Fall
Vase life: 7 days
Growing Conditions: Full sun and fertile well draining soil
Difficulty: Easy to grow
Annual

Garden Roses

beautiful pink and orange roses in a vase

One of the classiest and well known cut flowers, roses bring both fragrance and charm to the cut flower garden. Large bouquets of these fragrant flowers are often given as a sign of romantic affection, but they can also be grown as cut flowers in the home garden with great success.

Choose Hybrid Tea varieties for long lasting arrangements, as these roses can last for 7-10 days in a vase.

Season: Spring, Summer + Fall
Vase life: 7 days
Growing Conditions: Full sun and fertile well draining soil
Growing Difficulty: Moderate
Perennial

Lavender

Known for a soothing aroma and beautiful toned light purple flowers, lavender makes an excellent cut flower. Typically grown as a medicinal herb, we encourage you to add lavender to your cut flower garden. The long flower spikes of English lavender can last over a week in a flower arrangement.

Lavender is also drought tolerant and low maintenance, and look lovely paired with roses in a vase.

Season: Summer + Fall
Growing Conditions: Sandy soil, full sun
Vase Life: 7 days
Growing Difficulty: Moderate
Perennial

Cosmos

Cosmos are colorful summer flowers with seashell shaped petals that come in a variety of vibrant hues.

The trick to getting these flowers to last longer in a vase is to harvest them at the right time: you want to cut the stems just before the flowers begin to open. If you wait until the flowers have fully opened you will lose several days of vase time.

Make sure to trim the stems, change out the water every couple of days, and keep the flowers out of direct sunlight.

Season: Summer + Fall
Growing Conditions: Sandy soil, full sun
Vase Life: 5-7 days
Growing Difficulty: Easy
Annual

Sea Holly

Like lavender, Sea Holly is low maintenance and easy to grow once established. And, this unique plant has a striking bright blue flower with a long lasting vase life of 12-14 days.

These easy perennials have long stalks featuring luminous flowers in shades of purple, blue and white. Combine them with cosmos for an intriguing, fairy tale like flower arrangement!

Season: Summer-Fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun + well draining soil
Vase Life: 12-14 days
Growing Difficulty: Easy
Perennial

Daffodils

After a long dark winter the vibrant yellow hue of daffodils bring joy to the spring garden. Often overlooked as cut flowers, daffodils can last for up to a week under the right conditions.

Cut the flowers just as the blooms begin to open to extend vase life, and change out the water daily to prolong the fresh blooms. (Get more expert tips on extending daffodil vase life here).

Season: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun + fertile, well-draining soil
Vase Life: 7 days
Growing Difficulty: Easy
Perennial bulb

Tulips

Tulips are gorgeous spring flowers that are popularly sold as cut flowers. Under ideal conditions they have a vase life of up to ten days!

These vibrant flowers are grown from bulbs and when planted close together the stems will stretch, resulting in long stems perfect for vases.

Tulips come in a rainbow of colors from dark black to vibrant pink, yellow and purple. Make sure to keep tulips in a cool, dry space and change out the water every few days. Trim the base of the stems every few days to increase water uptake and hydration.

Season: Spring
Vase Life: 7-10 days, depending on care
Growing Conditions: Fertile soil and full sun
Perennial
Difficulty: Moderate (learn how to plant them here!)

Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are unique cut flowers: they can first be featured as fresh flowers, then dried and displayed! These showy perennial flowers come in beautiful shades of purple, pink, blue and white.

Use this trick to extend hydrangea vase life, then dry them!

Plant hydrangea is a spot with morning sun and afternoon shade. Give them lots of water and well draining soil. The Greek word for hydrangea means water and pitcher, and these shrubs crave lots of water. As cut flowers, check the water level daily.

To dry hydrangea flowers, simply empty the remaining water and let the flowers dry over a period of several weeks.

Season: Late Spring-Fall
Vase Life: 3-5 days, weeks as dried flowers
Growing Conditions: Fertile soil, morning sun
Perennial
Difficulty: Moderate

Carnations

Carnations are often sold as cut flowers and for good reason: they have an extremely long vase life of 7-21 days! Vase life depends on the care and flower food they are given, so keep them well fed and in a cool, dry area.

These sweetly scented carnations are the perfect flower for a cottage styled garden. As herbaceous perennials they are easy to grow and will flower from late spring through autumn. Make sure to include carnations in your cut flower garden and give them morning sun with afternoon shade.

Season: Late Spring-Fall
Vase Life: 7-21 days
Growing Conditions: Fertile soil, morning sun
Perennial
Growing Difficulty: Easy

Lilies

Lilies are popular with hummingbirds and butterflies… and they make a wonderful long lasting cut flower as well! Staying fresh for up to 14 days, lilies bring both beauty and fragrance to the home.

When grown in the cutting garden lilies will spread, lending you lots of flowers to share (or plants to divide!). Give them full shade and fertile soil.

Season: Spring
Vase Life: 14 days
Growing Conditions: Fertile soil, full sun
Perennial
Difficulty: Easy to grow

Peonies

When harvested at the right time, peonies can have a long vase life of 7 days. These beautiful billowing blooms have a light scent and huge petals, making them a coveted spring flower.

To harvest peonies for a vase, make sure to wait until the flower buds just begin to soften- buds should be the texture of a marshmallow.

Peonies take a few years to establish, but once they age they can feature dozens of gorgeous flowers every spring, making them one the best perennials for cut flowers.

Season: Spring
Vase Life: 7 days
Growing Conditions: Fertile soil, full sun
Perennial
Difficulty: Moderate

Ranunculus

Ranunculus are popular spring flowers with colorful blooms and a long vase life of 7-10 days. With layered petals and beautiful tones of pink, white and orange, ranunculus mimic peonies but have a longer vase life!

Make sure to use flower food to extend the life span of these gorgeous spring flowers, and cut their stems at a 45 degree angle.

Plant corms in the fall to add ranunculus to your cutting garden next spring!

Season: Spring
Vase Life: 7-10 days
Growing Conditions: Fertile soil, full sun
Perennial
Difficulty: Moderate

Freesia

Freesia are easy to grow tender perennials with a long vase life of 14 days or longer! They feature upward facing flowers in vibrant colors of pink, purple, white and yellow.

Use a clean vase and change out the water every other day to get the most from your fresh flowers.

Season: Spring, Late Summer, Early Fall
Vase Life: 14 days or longer
Growing Conditions: Well drained soil, full sun
Tender perennial
Growing Difficulty: Moderate

Tips To Extend Vase Life Of Cut Flowers

Good flower care is very important for getting the longest vase life out of a fresh bouquet. Dirty water and hot room temperatures will increase the growth of bacteria and the demise of your flowers!

Here are a few more tips to extending the vase life of your flowers:

Keep flowers out of direct sunlight as the heat and light will quickly degrade them
Use fresh, clean water and change the water out daily
Use lukewarm water to encourage hydration
Make sure to use a clean vase that has been disinfected from previous use
Feed your flowers with a quality flower food
Harvest your flowers right before they are in full bud. This can greatly extend the vase life of the flower!
Use a clean pair of shears to remove any foliage that is below the water line.
Set flowers far away from any fruits or vegetables that release ethylene gas, which encourages ripening

15 Longest Lasting Cut Flowers