Fresh Cut Bouquets: How to Build the Best

A flower bouquet is a collection of flowers arranged in a container. Bringing the beauty of flowers indoors is beneficial to your health. Bringing a happy state of mind, not only seeing the flowers as they grow in nature but the beauty they have arranged together in a container. Gifting flowers is a wonderful way to brighten your mood by giving to someone else; chasing away anxieties, worries and the blues.

There is something magical about creating a flower arrangement with your own hands. Expressing yourself with design and using your imagination. In today's world getting outside with nature and bringing that nature indoors is a true healing experience. I would like to share some tips on creating a bouquet in a container.

Gather your Tools:

• sharp shears or scissors
• floral tape or wire to help hold stems in place
• Container-could be used to help with theme of arrangement - let your imagination go wild. It just needs to hold water.

Choose Your Flowers:

• Color-you could go monochromatic or a rainbow of colors.
• Choose a focal flower, hydrangea, zinnia, daylily, or a sunflower.
• Then chose secondary flowers that compliments the focal flower, example Snapdragons, Scabiosa, and Straw Flower-Xeranthemum.
• Use filler flower to add texture, for example Baby’s Breath, Dusty Miller, Queen Anne’s Lace and Statice. Use unusual materials such as branches, grasses, herbs, or hibiscus mahogany splendor.
• Flowers with dry pods to add contrast and interest, for example cone flower, scabiosa, dried nigella, and Craspedia flower, also known as Billy buttons. Think about fragrance by adding viburnums, lilacs, and herbs.

Arrange Your Bouquet:

There are many ways of putting together a pleasing floral display. Floral design does follow some basic design principles. Here are the traditional rules of creating a well-balanced floral arrangement to help guide you:

• Rule of thumb-the height and width of the arrangement should be 1 ½ to 2 times the height and width of the container holding the flowers.
• Symmetry-think about placement of your arrangement, for example, if placed in a center of table, all sides will need to be coordinated, but if it is against a wall, you will need to work left, middle and right. Filling the back with foliage.
• Asymmetry-using your imagination of how the flower grows in nature. Creating a less traditional design. “Beauty can be in a less rigid design.”

Know your flowers' vase life:

There is maximum longevity with every variety of cut flower. Example: Give the Zinnia a “wiggle test,” gently grasping the zinnia halfway down the stem and then gently shaking it back and forth. If the stem is flopping it is not ready to cut. You want the stem stiff. Another example is Scabiosa should be harvested when they are still in the bud stage or just partially open.

How to make cut flowers last longer in a container:

Fill container with cool water and always use floral food. Your flowers need carbohydrates to continue to bloom and add longevity to the life of the container. Refill containers with fresh water daily. Changing water every few days, adding more floral food and trimming stems at a 45-degree angle helps the flower to drink more water. Flower stems are like straws, please place them in water immediately after trimming to prevent the air bubbles from forming in the stem and not allowing water to reach the top of flower. Remove any leaves on stems never placing below water level. If you have dying foliage, be sure to remove it.

Enjoy creating with flowers and I hope to see you in the field at Colonial Gardens U-Cut Flower Farm.

Written By Kristen Middleton