7 Long-Lasting Cut Flowers for Enduring Arrangements

Chrysanthemums

This popular fall flower, commonly known as a mum, is a great choice for bouquets, since the blooms can last up to two weeks. In fact, if you have a few flowers outlasting the rest of your arrangement, there's a good chance they're mums. Chrysanthemums come in a variety of colors and petal shapes, including button mums (which are popular in fall gardens), anemone, quilled, spider, spoon, and pompon.

Orchids

As a houseplant, orchid flowers can last for weeks or even months. They won't live quite as long as cut flowers, but most varieties will last for at least two weeks. If you want orchids with serious staying power, look for cymbidium varieties. These types of orchids offer the most enduring flowers, sometimes surviving for four weeks or more.

Carnations

Any bouquet you've picked up at the grocery store probably has at least one carnation, and it's almost always one of the last flowers standing. Carnations can last up to three weeks in a vase, as long as you keep them away from direct sunlight and heat and regularly refresh the water. They're also one of the most versatile flowers out there, easily dyed any color of the rainbow.

Zinnias

If you want to grow flowers in your garden for cutting, prioritize zinnias, which can have purple, red, orange, white, pink, or yellow blossoms. They're a favorite amongst pollinators, including butterflies, and when you decide to snip a few stems to bring inside, they'll last up to 12 days in a vase.

Alstroemerias

Also known as Peruvian lily, alstroemeria is another popular pick for bouquets. This lily look-alike grows several flowers per stem, helping create a full flower arrangement. Each individual flower usually lasts about a week, but since every stem has multiple blossoms, a cluster of alstroemerias can last for up to two weeks in a vase as all of the buds open up.

Lilies

Similar to alstroemerias, one lily stem (especially Oriental lilies) can have multiple flowers that open at different times. If you're buying an arrangement with lilies, look for flowers that haven't quite opened yet. Once you arrange them in a vase, they'll slowly open up within a few days, lasting for up to two weeks.

Alliums

You may not see alliums as often as some other cut flowers, but they're a great choice for a bouquet. They have long, stiff stems that won't flop over in a vase, and since they grow so tall (some varieties stretch up to 4 feet), they're easy to cut to any height you want.

Most will last up to two weeks in a vase as long as you regularly change the water. Also known as ornamental onions, these flowers' cut stems can smell a little like scallions, so if you leave them in the same water too long, you might start to notice the odor.