Floral Fun – Tips on Arranging Flowers

Hello All!

Over the summer, along with helping my family on the farm, I grow flowers on the side and arrange them for sale at my grandpa’s market. This year was my third summer – each year I’ve added more flowers and expanded my business little by little. In the peak of the summer, I do between 30-40 bouquets a week. This time of year, the quantity is about half that – simply because I just don’t have enough flowers to make more.

I am by no means a professional, but I have learned some things over the years. (cringes at what I made the first year. why didn’t someone tell me they were terrible? 🙈) I thought it would be fun to share a few things I’ve learned, even for those of you who are picking flowers from your backyard. Let’s dive in!

Start with an Eye Catcher

I like to use a large flower for the center of my bouquets – it’s usually the only one of that kind in that bouquet.

Some of my favorites are sunflowers and black-eyed Susan’s. (The yellow flowers in the picture on the far right). Not all my bouquets have a defined middle flower – sometimes it’s two or three. But starting with a large middle flower is a definite solid start.

Fillers, Flowers, and Foliage

It’s important to have a good mix and variety of flowers to work with. The more variety you have the more unique and creative your bouquet will be. A big bouquet of only two or three types of flowers is much less attractive than a bouquet of five or six varieties. Use big blooms and little blooms. Colorful blooms and green foliage.

Celosia(left) are one of my favorite fillers/foliage flowers. I harvest them young, when they have lots of leaves and before the bloom becomes a huge “brain” (no, honestly, the one variety looks like a brain, haha!) Snapdragons (middle) are just an all-around gorgeous flower. I often use them around the outside of my bouquets. Zinnias(right) are one of my favorite flowers ever and often serve as the main flower of my bouquet. I grow any colors and varieties, some big, some small!

Odd Numbers

This was a random tip I learned from an older lady who had been growing flowers for years. I was given the opportunity to go to her workroom (she works out of her barn!) with homeschool group and design a few bouquets under guidance. I was in awe! So many flowers right at my fingertips! It was beautiful! 😁

Anyway, the tip is to use odd numbers of flowers – like 1, 3, 5. So instead of using 4 zinnias – one on each side – use 3 or 5. It gives the bouquet a rounder feeling – and just looks nice – trust me! I’ve experienced it 😉

Be Creative

All of these tips are just that – tips. They aren’t rules. There are no rules to flower arranging. Be creative with it. Sometimes you won’t always have the flowers you want – search your weed patch or garden for something fun. I’ve used smart weed (little pink flowers) grasses, ivy, dill flowers and ornamental onion blooms. As the summer dwindles, the variety of flowers I have shrinks. I have to get creative. And sometimes the bouquets I make aren’t totally what I had in mind. But you make do with what you have! Try different vases – if you plenty of flowers you can make something large – in a big vase or a mason jar (below on the left). Or you can try smaller vases or jars. I’ve also experimented with aqua foam (which I bought off amazon) It’s a green soft foam that soaks up water and then you can just stick the flowers into it. It’s super handy for when your flower stems are short, or you want to do something in a unique vase – a basket or wooden box like the ones below that my awesome dad helped me make. (Plastic liners recommended so the aqua foam can sit in water the whole time).

Have Fun

Don’t limit yourself! Use what you have and have fun with it! Flowers are incredibly beautiful, and they can brighten up any room! They also make great gifts – whether for sympathy, a birthday, or just a sweet ‘thinking of you’. People always feel blessed to receive flowers! There are so many hundreds of different flowers – from giant peonies and hydrandras to the incredibly annoying and pesty, but still pretty, dandelions and smart weeds (see the flowers in the picture above – the left one – they are tall and almost look like a grass head but are pink). Take time to drink in the beauty of God’s creation. As you work with flowers may they remind of the beauty and creativity our Creator!

Blessings,

autumn

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