Mother’s Day, graduation, wedding anniversaries (for all those June weddings gone by), birthdays — ’tis the season to buy flowers. (That’s a little odd, come to think of it, because this time of year, we’re surrounded by flowers provided by Mother Nature; you’d think the big flower-buying surge would be in the grey and dreary winter months.)

But whatever the occasion, when you do buy flowers, perhaps at some point you feel a little bit cheated because they just don’t last long enough. One day they’re looking fabulous on the dining room sideboard; the next day they look like sad leftovers from a funeral.

Would you be more likely to splurge on that gorgeous bouquet if you knew you could get a lot more mileage out of those blooms? If so, the scientists of the Agricultural Research Service have some great news for you!

ARS scientists in California, in collaboration with university researchers in California, Florida and the United Kingdom, are working on a number of tactics to delay plants’ natural aging, called “senescence.” The idea is that scientists might eventually be able to modify flowers’ aging-linked genes or the proteins produced by those genes.

One promising candidate is a compound with the tongue-tangling name of thidiazuron, or TDZ. In tests, the scientists found that spraying low concentrations of this commercially available compound had what the scientists called “sometimes spectacular” effects in extending the life of potted plants’ leaves and flowers. In tests with greenhouse-grown cyclamen plants, the TDZ-treated plants lasted up to a full month longer than the unsprayed plants.

Even better, the TDZ—added to water and applied in concentrations as low as 5 parts per million—didn’t harm the plants’ shape. That’s important because some other compounds used commercially to offset aging of blooming plants can disfigure the plants.

In case you’re wondering whether TDZ might turn out to be more of a problem than a plus, it’s simply a man-made version of a naturally occurring plant hormone called a cytokinin, and it’s actually nothing new. It’s used in higher concentrations to cause cotton plants to drop their leaves so the mechanical harvesters can snatch the fluffy cotton balls without also grabbing too much trash.

Studies in 2000 with cut flowers showed that smaller doses of the defoliant extended the life of alstroemeria leaves. The more recent ARS studies are the first to show the leaf-saving and blossom-boosting effects of TDZ with potted plants.

Although we non-scientists are most likely to be impressed by TDZ’s ability to make our potted plants and cut bouquets last a while longer, the scientists have a different interest: finding out precisely how TDZ affects genes and proteins inside the plants.

But it could all come together in the end, if this research yields strategies to make TDZ even more effective at protecting our favorite ornamental plants. And it could also help scientists understand why TDZ works well with some plants and not so well with others—for example, some kinds of miniature potted roses.

It probably won’t surprise you that the scientists are also trying a more complex approach—tracking down genetic clues to the aging puzzle. They’re using a technique called virus-induced gene silencing, or VIGS, which basically involves turning on and off specific genes.

Here’s how it works: The scientists insert a “gene of interest” into a naturally occurring virus called tobacco rattle virus, then expose plants to that virus. This exposure turns on the plants’ natural defense mechanisms, which include attempting to silence the “invader” virus as well as the genes inserted in that virus. By comparing what happens (or doesn’t happen) in the VIGS plants versus other plants not exposed to the altered virus, the scientists hope they can pinpoint the specific function of the “silenced” gene they’ve inserted.

The scientists aim to use this technology to quickly turn off genes in plants and see which ones control the plant’s aging process. Although this technique has been used previously in tomatoes and barley, this marks the first time scientists have used VIGS to study aging in cut flowers and potted plants.

This will definitely encourage me to crack open the old wallet next time those gorgeous rose bouquets call my name!

 The Agricultural Research Service is the chief in‑house scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. You can read more about ARS discoveries at http://www.ars.usda.gov/news.