Evaluating Vase Life Performance of Delphinium ‘Sea Waltz’ in Eco-friendly Floral Design Media

Florists, designers, and consumers are increasingly valuing sustainability in the floral design industry. Although there are many avenues of sustainability in floristry, particular interest is given to design mechanics, the materials used to support flower stems. Floral foam, or phenol formaldehyde foam, is rendered as the industry standard mechanic despite its negative environmental impacts—ending up in landfills or degrading into microplastics that can leach into waterways. Several eco-friendly alternatives to phenol formaldehyde foam have been introduced recently to the market in an attempt to make design mechanics more sustainable and to reduce the single-use plastic of floral foam. Such alternatives include materials made from heat-expanded basalt rock and ground coconut fibers (coir). We sought to evaluate the vase life performance of several eco-friendly floral design media in a comparison with phenol formaldehyde foam on a popular cut flower, Delphinium ‘Sea Waltz’. Our results demonstrate that phenol formaldehyde foam had a significantly longer vase life than all other tested media. However, basalt rock fiber also maintained an average vase life of more than 7 days, which indicates that it satisfies typical consumer expectations of vase life. Although not as efficient in average vase life as traditional phenol formaldehyde foam, basalt rock fiber is a viable, more sustainable option for florists seeking to reduce their environmental impact. Coir-based media produced a significantly shorter average vase life than that of the phenol formaldehyde foam and the basalt rock fiber, and proved to be more difficult in handling, indicating that its use is most appropriate in short-term designs or installations consistent with a shorter vase life. Other considerations for florists wanting to implement new media in their design practices are cost of and access to alternative materials.