How to Make a Garden-Inspired Flower Arrangement

Whenever people come to our house and see our gardens, the first thing they ask is if we’re growing flowers to sell. While we’ve hosted a few floral arranging workshops on the farm, the truth is that we’re mostly growing for our own enjoyment. My mom is Dutch and her love of flowers, which she’s passed on to me, runs deep. From May through October, we’re filling the house with as many arrangements from the garden as we can. When the garden is dormant, there are still fresh flowers but they’re from the grocery store. It’s less charming but it still warms up the house even in the coldest months.

I’ve never had any sort of professional instruction, but I’ve been lucky enough to have some real talent around me and have tried to absorb as much as I can from that. Here’s how I approach making an arrangement:

The first step is to choose your vessel. That could be a vase, mason jar, or even a tall glass. I also like using a pitcher as a vase, especially if I have just one type of flower or foliage. If you have a few special blooms but not enough to make an arrangement, pop a flower into a bud vase with some greenery and call it a day. Sometimes I’ll arrange a few bud vases down the table or cluster them together to create a statement.

Unless my vessel is clear, I like to put a square of crumbled chicken wire at the base of the vase. The chicken wire offers more structure and support to the stems, while giving you flexibility in terms of how you arrange them. Before getting started, fill the vase with water.

Pro tip from the farm: add a teaspoon of bleach to the water to help the flowers stay fresher longer. This only works with cut flowers, not with pots.

Arrange all your blooms on a table and strip any leaves that run down the stem. The leaves will rot in the water causing bacteria to grow, which shortens the shelf life of your arrangement. Then, cut each stem to your desired length on a sharp angle. This creates more surface area for the stem to absorb water, helping the arrangement last longer.

I start by adding foliage to the vase–that can be eucalyptus you buy at the grocery store or a branch you snip on a tree outside your house. Think of greenery as a way to add body and movement to the arrangement. Next, I add the largest blooms. These are the statement flowers that draw your attention. Even one or two choice flowers, like dahlias, are enough to make a big impact. From there, add in your filler flowers. If the arrangement is still looking like it needs a little something more, I’ll add in a few more stems of greenery.

To keep your arrangement lasting as long as possible, make sure to refill the water daily. Depending on your flowers, you should be able to keep your flowers going for almost a week.

Until next time!

Alexis