Flower Arranging Techniques, Tips and Tricks!

One of my favorite and easiest way to arrange flowers is a 'vase within a vase' method. Place a smaller vase inside a larger one, then use a piece of chicken wire to provide support for flower stems in your arrangement. Hosta leaves between the walls of the glass vases hide the mechanics of the chicken wire and the flower stems. You can buy chicken wire at the craft or hardware store. Check the dollar store if you need a smaller size vase to fit inside one you already have.

Gerbera daisies, asters, alstroemeria, sunflowers and zinnias are from the grocery store. I cut some Queen Anne’s lace, coleus, pincushion flower and abelia, along with the hosta leaves to assemble the arrangement.

You see the flower arrangement here at an alfresco garden table.

I like to pick up flowers at the Farmers Market in the summer for a flower fix. When you get your flowers home, give them some TLC and conditioning before you arrange them. Strip the leaves that would be below the waterline, removing the excess foliage and damaged petals, and recut the stems at a 45 degree angle for maximum water uptake. Place them in a clean bucket with room temperature water and some floral preservative to condition them and let them sit several hours or ideally, overnight.

If you’re using wet floral foam, use the “float soak” method and place the floral foam bricks on the top of a solution of fresh water and/or floral preservative. Let the floral foam gradually absorb the water until it’s fully saturated. Plunging the floral foam in the water traps air bubbles and will prohibit the transfer of water from the foam to the flower stems.

Get tips on how to arrange flowers in a tall vase.

Sometimes I start with foliage as the framework of the arrangement, before adding the flowers, especially if they’re the same variety or size, like roses.

Other times I start with the flowers first and arrange as I go. I added Granny Smith apples and limes, along with greenery clipped from the shrubs in the yard, to add to the Farmers Market bouquet. Green wired floral picks are available at the craft store with the floral supplies in 4" and 6" lengths for around $4, to attach the fruit to the floral foam.

Flowers are naturally beautiful, so let your materials be your guide and do what’s pleasing to your eye, rather than following ‘rules’ when it comes to arranging.

I like to add fruit and/or vegetables to mix with the flowers in an arrangement. They add texture and interest to the arrangement and you need fewer flowers. I used artichokes, apples and grapes in this for a 'Grape Expectations Harvest Table'.

When it comes to arranging flowers, think outside the vase. A vintage enamel tea kettle can make a charming container to fill with garden flowers.

Experiment and combine materials that might seem like an unlikely pairing, like blue hydrangeas and ‘Jack Be Little’ pumpkins, in this fall arrangement.

To keep cut hydrangeas from wilting, use the 'alum-dipping method', dipping 1/2 inch of each stem in alum powder, found on the spice aisle at the grocery store. Alum helps encourage water uptake that hydrangeas need.

I would love for you to visit my blog! More photos and a recipe for a DIY floral preservative and  Garden Bouquet DIY and Recycling Flower Arranging Hack at the link below!