Awesome Homegrown Flower Arrangements

A blooming garden is all you need to create awesome homegrown flower arrangements. I love going out to my garden and cutting everything I need to create a beautiful homegrown floral bouquet.

I have always loved arranging flowers. With the onset of COVID-19, I started creating a ‘bouquet of the day’ to beautify my home. I knew I would be spending more time at home. So why not create a colorful floral arrangement to brighten my home—and my day?

After all, growing and arranging flowers is therapeutic. Instead of spending money on greenhouse-grown or imported flowers, I challenged myself to arrange with only those flowers that I could grow.

Thankfully, the pandemic no longer dominates my life—and I have awesome homegrown flower arrangements to enjoy every day.

 

Flowers and Foliage: The Great Duo of Flower Arrangements

Many stunning flowers can be home grown and last well in bouquets. We commonly talk about flower bouquets and floral arrangements. But most people forget about foliage.

Foliage is equally important—or sometimes more important—than the flowers that make up your arrangement. A floral arrangement should be just like a garden. The flowers are beautiful, but the foliage is what pulls everything together.

 

Top 7 Tips for Great Homegrown Flower Arrangements

Think Diversity

Plant a combination of annuals, perennials, and flowering bulbs and even vegetables with different bloom times. That way, you will have flowers and foliage available for many months throughout the year. My favorite work-horse flower is dahlias, with its huge selection of sizes and shapes.

 

Arranging Tip

Instead of using non-compostable floral foam (oasis), start by arranging multi-stemmed larger flowers or foliage into your water-filled vase. The structure of the branches will hold up more delicate single-stemmed flowers. Waterproof floral tape is also valuable in holding things in place.

 

Choose Awesome Containers

Be creative with your vases. Use galvanized buckets, large mixing bowls, goldfish bowl, pitchers, crocks, teapots, teacups, pumpkins/gourds, mason jars and empty cans. They are all great for arranging. My favorite simple arrangement is floating flowers in a bowl.

 

 

Experiment with Themes

Go beyond traditional flower arrangements with themes. If you have a theme in mind, don’t be afraid to use props or accessories to interpret your idea. I stage my arrangements with favorite books, birds’ nests, and other objects to embellish the arrangement.

 

Explore the Great Outdoors

Forage in the woods and on roadsides for great finds. I have collected pinecones, lotus pods, lichen-covered branches, cattails, goldenrod, grasses, flowering tree branches, and evergreens.

Park off the road for safety and wear long sleeves and pants to guard against ticks and poison ivy. Even look inside your house and use houseplant foliage and flowers.

 

Think Seasonal Flower Arrangements

Create with the season or occasion in mind. As an example, during the fall season, I use lots of pumpkins and gourds. For winter arrangements, make use of evergreens, interesting twigs, and holiday decorations.

 

Dried Elements

In your garden plantings, make sure you include things that can be dried or preserved for use later. Hydrangeas, cockscomb, strawflowers, goldenrod, yarrow, and marigolds are just a few that dry wonderfully by simply hanging up to dry to create a winter arrangement.

 

Favorite Flowers to Grow for Arranging

My criteria for including flowers on this list, is that they must be easy to grow, last long in a vase, and have sturdy stems for arranging. Included are annual and perennial flowers.

Don’t be afraid to include unusual flowers in your flower arrangements. But make sure you include your favorite flowers!

Here is my list of favorite flowers for floral arrangements.

Asters

Astilbe

Chrysanthemums

Cockscomb

Coneflower

Dahlias (My favorite!!)

Gladiolus

Goldenrod

Hydrangea

Marigolds

Oriental Lilies

Peonies

Strawflowers

Sunflowers

Tulips

Yarrow

Zinnias

 

Favorite Foliage, Berries and Stems

Remember, adding foliage to your flower arrangement gives important visual space and diversity. In many ways, the foliage and other plant material provide the “bones” for a great flower arrangement

It’s important to add a variety of colors and textures of both foliage and berried shrubs. That’s what adds pizzazz to my best floral arrangements.

Here are my favorites:

Abelia

Amsonia (Blue Star) foliage

Arborvitae

Aucuba

Blueberry

Grasses

Mahonia, foliage and berries

Nandina, foliage and berries

Ninebark

Purple Smoke Tree

Twig Dogwoods, Red, Orange, & Yellow

Viburnum, foliage and berries

White Pine

Willows, Curly and Pussy

Winterberry

 

Growing, cutting, and arranging flowers is a great way to exercise your creativity. Plus, flower arrangements bring the beauty of the outdoors inside.

For more information, please join my #Bouquetoftheday Facebook group. And feel free to post your flower bouquets and floral arrangements for everyone to see and enjoy. Also read Hydrangea Happiness: How to Grow Hydrangeas.

 

Check out these Great Books About Flower Arranging that can be shipped right to your door!