Best Tips For Arranging Beautiful Flowers

Flowers are a perfect way to brighten up your home and our mood. We show you how to arrange fresh  flowers, along with tips, tricks and other info for making beautiful flower arrangements.

Today I’m sharing 13 simple tips and doable tricks that will help keep all your cut flower arrangements looking their best!

My blogging friends and I have lots of ideas and inspiration, tips and tricks from choosing flowers and greenery and putting together pretty arrangements and ways to keep arrangements looking fresh and staying alive longer!

This is your go-to place for all things cut flowers and arrangements!

WHAT YOU NEED TO CREATE A FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

Here are some things that will help you create pretty flower arrangements or bouquets…

greenery and foliage
flowers
succulents
garden shears, sharp household scissors, or a sharp knife
cutting board
flower food
vase, container, or another waterproof vessel
floral tape or other tapes to make a grid on the mouth of the vase
a floral frog
floral foam
rubber bands or fabric
pearl head pins

YOU CAN USE ANY FLOWER IN AN ARRANGEMENT

No matter where you find flowers grab them up and put them in an arrangement! Having flowers in our homes is a breath of fresh air, literally!

Flowers are life-giving to our spirits and our homes. So make sure you have a bouquet big or small in your home!

Spring flowers are some of my favorites! Here are beautiful in-season blooms that look amazing brought inside to make a floral arrangement…

tulips
ranunculus
daffodils
hyacinths
dogwood
violets (so pretty in a tiny vase)
snowdrops
crocus
hyacinth
iris

These pretty spring flowers look beautiful on their own or mixed with other flowers that don’t necessarily bloom in the spring. Mixing them with grocery store blooms can make the loveliest arrangements!

Hyacinth, iris, and daffodils should be kept in a separate vase. They give off toxins that will kill cut flowers in the same vase. So, put these spring flowers in a vase of their own.

OTHER FAVORITE FLOWERS FOR CREATING FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS

Even though it is spring, there are so many flowers we can use to create beautiful floral designs.

A grocery store is a great place to pick up flowers like hydrangeas (see how to treat hydrangeas below) and more! Florists also stock lots of flowers and greenery too!

Here are some other very popular flowers you can use…

ranunculus
stock roses
roses
sunflowers
peonies
daisies
carnations
anemones
dahlias
sweet peas
sunflowers
dahlias

MUST-DO THINGS TO KEEP FLOWERS LOOKING THEIR BEST

Before we talk about arranging flowers, let’s talk about some basic things to keep flowers looking their best longer …

CUT AND CLIP

When you get bring flowers home put them in a vase or container and make sure to recut their stems at a 45-degree angle with a sharp knife or garden shears. This will help water flow in the bloom.

Many cut flowers like roses tend to get air bubbles in their stems so cut them underwater. This is a good practice for all cut flowers.

GET RID OF THE LEAVES AND SPENT PETALS

Many of the flowers we arrange have leaves on them. We want to gently break them off or snip them from the stem. Leaves compete with the bloom for water!

If you want to keep the leaves on a flower as a part of the arrangement make sure all the leaves are stripped off the flower under the water level in a vase. Leaves that are underwater cause bacteria in the water and shorten the life of flowers.

Some flower leaves, like tulips, cannot easily be stripped from the stem. Gently remove any damaged outer leaves and the rest of the leaves can be left on.

Also gently pull off any petals of a flower that is browned, bruised, or spent. This will make your flowers look fresher.

It’s popular to let faded petals stay on the leaves so an arrangement has a very romantic look. Taking off or keeping on petals that are getting a little faded, limp, or brown is a personal preference.

WATER IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF BLOOMS

Water is the environment that cut blooms live in so it is important to pay attention to the water we use for our flowers.

Most flowers are very thirsty so keep the water level close to the top of the vase! And check often.

COLD WATER, WARM WATER, OR OTHER WATER?

Most flowers like to be in room temperature water. I usually make the water a bit cooler when I first put flowers in an arrangement, especially if they are spring seasonal blooms or buds.

It’s important to change the water DAILY, especially if they are spring cut flowers like tulips, irises, and other bulb-type flowers. They tend to make the water slimy more quickly.

FLORAL FOOD AND OTHER HOME RECIPIES

Using floral food will keep your cut flowers fresher longer than just plain water. Flowers, for the most part, love slightly acidic water and a good cut flower food will help to keep the nutrients flowing to the flower and keep bad bacteria at bay.

There are all kinds of home recipes for making flower food. Adding sugar or lemon-lime soda. Adding a couple drops of bleach to the water or add vodka.

A penny in the bottom of a vase of tulips acts as a fungicide because of the copper in a penny. However, since the 1940’s most pennies don’t have much copper so this trick does not work unless you have a very old penny!

CUT THE STEMS OF FLOWERS EVERY DAY AND ADD FRESH WATER

I know this might sound like a lot of work to recut the flower stems, rinse out the vase and then arrange flowers again. But really, working with flowers is such a joy!

Cut a little bit of the stem off at a 45-degree angle again. Wash the vase with warm soapy water and rinse it thoroughly. Then add cool water along with flower food stirring until the food is mixed into the water.

Sometimes the stems of your flowers may feel a little slimy. If this happens then rinse them off and using your hand rub down the stem.

HOW TO TREAT HYDRANGEAS SO THEY STAY FRESH LONGER

I talked to a florist recently about how finiky beautiful hydrangeas are! They droop so easily!

The florist told to cut the ends of the hydrangeas like discussed above and submerge the whole hydrangea underwater as soon as you get them home or pick them from your yard.

Hydrangeas need a lot of hydration to look their best inside.

So, I submerged my hydrangeas for about two hours.

Wow, she was right! The hydrangeas in my urn lasted for almost a week.

And then when they started to get droopy I submerged them in water again!

Wow again, this technique worked again!

I cut the hydrangeas and made a “snowball” arrangement with them. They are still going strong!

If you remember one thing from this post hydrating hydrangeas should be it.

FUN ROSE TIPS

There are two more tips I learned from a local florist. They are for roses.

If a rose is partially closed and you want it opened more, hold the rose upside down and put the stem between your palms. Rub your palms back and forth making the head of the rose spin! Do this quickly and a rose will open up! Pretty cool!

Another way to open a partly opened rose up is to blow into it. The force of the air will open the bloom up.

I blew into some of the stock roses and they opened right up. And this was fun. Just a good forceful blow and the petals opened and the roses looked so so pretty.

USE ANY LEFTOVER FLOWERS IN A TINY ARRANGEMENT

When I create an arrangement I usually have a bloom or two that are leftover. So I put these tiny bits and pieces of flowers and foliage in a tiny vase and put them next to my coffee maker.

I also keep these little arrangements on my desk and in the guest bathroom.

They are such a cheery greeting when I get my morning coffee! Tuck these sweet arrangements into your decor in places you will see them.

WHAT TO DO WHEN FLOWERS IN ARRANGEMENTS LOOK LESS THAN THE BEST?

What do you do when flowers in an arrangement are wilting and not looking their best? Do you throw them all away?

When some flowers in an arrangement look a bit dead you can throw the whole arrangement away or exchange them for a fresh flower or you can do what I love to do.

You can use the flowers that are still pretty and create new arrangements.

One of my best flower arranging tips is to break apart a large arrangement and make several smaller arrangements from it.

I usually buy a trio of smaller vases and containers or other another vessel so I can use them across my dining table. Three is a magic decorating number. You can see more about THE RULE OF THREE here.

We are having company tonight and I pulled apart a big arrangement and made three smaller arrangements as a centerpiece.

With a little care, you can have beautiful, flower arrangements to enjoy in your home.

Happy flower arranging, friend!

4 Comments

Kate says:

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I have heard you should submerge roses, too, and I’ve tried, but how do you keep them under the water?? I tried putting bowls on top of them but it didn’t work well and the flowers still fought to rise to the surface, especially the flower heads. There’s also not many good places to fill up a deep sink and put it out of commission for two hours. I really struggled with this…how did you do it??

1. StoneGable says:
  
  at
  
  I put a big dinner plate over my flowers. Try that.
  
New Port Richey Florist says:

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Another factor to take into place is location of flowers, are they for the center or corner.

1. Yvonne Pratt says:
  
  at
  
  Very good thought.

Best Tips For Arranging Beautiful Flowers

WHAT YOU NEED TO CREATE A FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

YOU CAN USE ANY FLOWER IN AN ARRANGEMENT

OTHER FAVORITE FLOWERS FOR CREATING FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS