Straight up - Tulip!

I love the simple elegance of spring flowers. No filler, muss and fuss - just an abundance of simplicity. For Valentine's day I purchased my Mother in law 5 bundles of tulips, a vase and some river rocks. I put them together right at the flower counter of Safeway. The lovely florist gave me a hand, and accented it with some purple tule. She then asked me if I had any pennies. I dug into my pocket and came up with a handful of change. "Why is that?" I asked.
"Pennies make the tulips stand straight up and last longer."
Really!? I had never heard that before! She said they liked the copper.
So, when hubby gave me a bunch of tulips for Valentine's, I decided to try it. In went the pennies with my stones.

This is what they looked like when I first put them in... and typically this is what they look like for days afterwards.

And this is what they look like, one day later! Yep, they are standing straight up that's for sure!! In fact, you can't even tell they are the same bunch of tulips, it appears as though I removed half of them!

It's too much for this vase, and does not balance out. I prefer them to be fanned out a bit more like in the before picture... so unless I was using a thinner, taller vase - this is not a look I would strive for. However, it is quite impressive!
Some websites say this is just a wife's tale... and really all pennies post '96 don't even contain copper! But... as you can see here - it did the trick! (Viagra for flowers!! ;) I am interested to see if the pennies will prolong the life of the tulips. Apparently, aspirin is supposed to have the same affect.