How to Make a Blooming Pumpkin Centerpiece Using a Shortcut

I’m sharing an easy method and shortcut to make a blooming pumpkin! Typically, you hollow out your pumpkin to make a vase for your flowers, but cutting through the hard skin and flesh can be a challenge and hazardous! Skipping this step saves you time, prevents potential accidents, and it extends the life of your pumpkin as it's not cut.

Here are the materials I used for this shortcut method.

I started with a stemless pumpkin. I always like to buy one or two stemless pumpkins in the fall to use for stacking.

You'll also need a brick of  wet floral foam. Cut your floral brick with a kitchen knife to the size you need for the top of your pumpkin. Soak the floral foam in water mixed with  floral preservative

until it’s fully saturated (about 5 minutes or less).

When the foam was saturated, I used  waterproof floral tape to secure the wet foam to a clear plastic plate.

Tip: When using wet floral foam, use the “float soak” method and place the floral foam brick on top of the water. 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.

Place your plate with foam on your pumpkin to arrange your flowers, so you get a feel for proportion and size of your finished arrangement.

Start with your greenery, adding it to your foam, to establish the overall shape of your arrangement.

For this arrangement I used mums and sunflowers from the grocery store and flowers and foliage from the garden: Limelight hydrangeas, goldenrod, abelia, Chaste tree seed pods and maiden grass plumes.

After you’ve added your foliage, add your flowers, starting with the largest ones first. I began with some sunflowers and larger mums. Limelight hydrangeas from the garden and goldenrod, came next. I filled in with smaller mums, than added some Chaste tree seed pods and maiden grass plumes.

Spin your plate with your flowers around on your pumpkin as your work, or place your pumpkin on a  Lazy Susan / Turntable, so you see your arrangement from all sides. Tuck in additional greenery or flowers as needed, working until all your foam

and the edge of your plate is concealed.

To further prolong the life of your flower arrangement, use

an anti-transpirant, like  Crowning Glory, that seals in moisture. Crowning Glory dries to a clear finish with no residue and is safe to use on all flower types.

What I love about this method:

•  No cutting involved so your pumpkin will last all season
•   Easy to transport the flowers and pumpkin separately
•  The floral top can be refrigerated to prolong the life of your flowers
•  You can add water to the arrangement as needed as the plastic plate will catch drips and excess water

Here is my blooming pumpkin as a centerpiece for the table.

Click over via the blue "go" button below to visit the original blog post to find:

• More photos.
• More floral inspiration with pumpkins from my blogging friends.