Create a Blooming Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day

Serve up flowers with your cabbage instead of corned beef for St. Patrick's Day! This blooming cabbage arrangement is a pretty way to usher in spring and provide a centerpiece for your table.

Pick up a large head of cabbage at the grocery store for your floral centerpiece. The larger the cabbage, the better and more room you have to work with. Trim the bottom of your cabbage so it sits level. Remove the outer loose leaves and save those that aren’t wilted.

You’ll reattach the leaves to your cabbage with floral pins after you hollow out your cabbage and are ready to add the flowers.

Hollow out your cabbage allowing you to place a glass or jar inside as a vase to hold your flowers.

Trace around your glass or jar with a sharpie and cut out the center of your cabbage with a paring knife.

After cutting down though the top of the cabbage, I found it easier to flip the cabbage over and cut through the bottom to meet in the middle, to fit my glass inside the cabbage.

After attaching my outer leaves with floral pins, I filled my glass with flowers from the grocery store.

Green hydrangea blooms were strategically placed along the outside edge of the glass so they would spill over and conceal the cut edge of the cabbage.

It was a dreary and rainy last week. As I was waiting for better light to photograph my arrangement, I wrapped my cabbage vase with a damp paper towel, covered it in plastic wrap, and tied it up in a plastic grocery bag in the refrigerator. It stayed fresh for 4 days until I was ready to photograph.

The flowers in their glass were refrigerated separately too, so I can recommend this method for preparing your arrangement ahead of time and keeping it fresh! Refrigerating tulips also helps keep them from opening up too quickly.

Here are few tips to help extend the life of your flowers in your arrangement:

Cut your flower stems at a 45 degree angle for maximum water uptake and remove any leaves below the water line.

Always add the floral preservative packets to your vase water that come with your flowers. If you don’t have any floral preservative, you can make your own with this easy formula.

Check your water level to top it off if necessary. Some flowers like hydrangeas are heavy drinkers.

If you’re using cut hydrangeas, use the alum-dipping method to keep them from wilting.

Change your vase water every other day if possible.

Keep your flower arrangement away from heat (like vents blowing) or direct sunlight.

See a version for Easter with a wheelbarrow toting bunny, HERE.