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Betsy KaretnickUpdated: Nov. 10, 2023
No more black thumbs. Here are flower arrangement ideas inspired by store-bought bouquets and the backyard.
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Pastel Pink Peonies
It’s time to accessorize pretty-in-pink pastels like floral designer @lou_lou.d. Take five stems of peony with light pink parrot tulips and a taller sprig of white or pink lisianthus to a blush vase. Add matching candles to finish the look.
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Long-Stemmed Tulips
Tulips have strength in numbers in this arrangement from @floretflower. Buy three bunches of long-stemmed tulips. Wash sandy bottoms and remove tatty leaves. In a slimmer vase, start circling—shorter ones outside, taller toward the middle and some accent tulips in the center.
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Flowering Branches
F is for forsythia—and free! In much of the country, forsythia grows roadside and in backyards. Recut at home and watch the branches bloom yellow and leaf out. Here, @seed.to.table tops a mantle with a few stems in vases.
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Live Orchids
Container orchids are just like cut flowers with one exception: The blooms can last for months! Follow @the_staged_life‘s lead by wrapping smaller and taller pots with moss. Place in an architectural bowl with wooden beads or other accents.
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Floating Flowers
Hellebores are one of the first flowers to bloom when winter ends. Search the garden—or pick up a pot from a nursery. @marianne.willburn floats a few blossoms in a series of bowls. This arrangement is perfect on a sideboard or tabletop.
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Small Spring Arrangement
An aged concrete planter holds a fresh spring gathering from @theportablegarden. Insert green trick dianthus in wet floral foam. Top with three tulips and puss* willow tips. You only need three bunches of flowers to make two or three of these mini arrangements.
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Cherry Blossoms
Secure cherry blossom stems like @lucytheflowerhunter: with floral foam on a base covered with chicken wire and wrapped with floral tape. Both are staple tools for arranging flowers like a pro. Then simply cut and insert branches. For better longevity, place branches in fresh water.
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Underwater Blooms
Submerged flowers combine with candles to add romance to the table. To keep them in place, wire a fishing weight to the bottom of the stem. Then cover the base with rocks like @odealarose before adding water.
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Two-Toned Roses in Silver
Here’s an oldie but goodie from Happy Haute Home, who filled the family silver with joy. Cut wet floral foam to fit snugly in the opening to hold the flowers. Pick up two tones of roses plus delphinium for an arrangement that will ooze charm. Add extra water.
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Garden Blooms in a Basket
@blossominginteriors shows serious style with two elements—a basket and flowers. Hide a vase inside a wicker or woven basket. Pair garden roses or peonies with greens like mint or scavenged ivy for drape.
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Beautiful Bud Vase
Bud vases can be any material from ceramics to metallics. @juliarohdedesigns and @loveflorafauna use both! For rounder shapes, rest the flower heads closer to the rim. Tuck tropical leaves around roses. Then add accents like snapdragon and fern.
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Rustic Sunflower Centerpiece
A rustic caddy or basket filled with mason jars perfectly sets the scene with sunflowers and seeded eucalyptus greens. This tablescape by The Honeycomb Home adds million bells for a hint of purple contrast, but purple statice works too.
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Dutch Tulipiere
Go old-school with a Dutch-inspired tulipiere, or tulip holder. Historians differ on their original purpose to grow or display cut tulips, but they are charming regardless. @inspiredbycharm uses one to make floral arrangements easy.
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Molly Aaker/Getty Images
Primary Colors
Pick primary colors for an easy to assemble arrangement. Drop a handful of ruscus leaves into a medium height vase. Red gerbera daisies ring the outside, frilly yellow solidago rims the top and yellow calla lilies add an accent.
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Mismatched Vases
Group together or line a table with coordinating but not matching containers. @theredtwig in Ohio offers a combination of roses, snap dragon, amaryllis, berries and red twig dogwood. Holiday greens and colors connect the design for winter.
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Less Is More
Ikebana is the Japanese school of flower arranging. It’s a quiet practice focused on form, shape, line and structure. Designer keiko_ikebana proves the less-is-more approach can really have an impact. Alstroemeria, Queen Anne’s lace and greens pop out of pink.
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Eunice Jane Bergin/Getty Images
Vintage Teacups
Get inspiration from the china cabinet. If the dishes are fragile, line them with plastic. Snug cut floral foam can hold stems easily in place. Pick delicate flowers and colors that match. Roses, sweet peas and lisianthus blend beautifully.
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Lush Greens
Most markets offer greens like fern and eucalyptus. @luminousblooms mixes them up, extending them at least six inches beyond the vase. Remove bottom leaves and criss-cross them around the container. Tuck roses and astrancia in the middle.
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Flavia Morlachetti/Getty Images
Nightstand Arrangement
Flowers inject a fresh quality in a bedroom. Choose a handful of favorite blooms to accessorize your nightstand, like dahlias with a lush shape and soft color. Change blossoms regularly to feature seasonal flowers.
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Short, Stout Vase
Go bold on a side table! An opaque vase hides the stems of the ranunculus, hellebore and anemone from @theportablegarden. Gather a handful, cut stems to the height of the vase and softly rubber band the flowers together.
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Rustic Vines
@ovandony knows how to combine simple elements for drama. Vines inside a rectangular vase offer the structure for air plants and orchids. The front-facing arrangement is perfect for an alcove.
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Succulents Beneath a Cloche
Succulents don’t need a cloche to protect them from the elements inside, but it sure is cute on these twin wood trivets from @urbanorchidfloral. Wrap mosses and lichen around potted succulents. Then add a cactus accent.
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Single Flower Arrangement
Floral artist Michaela Moran shares beauty in simplicity with peach garden roses matching the earthen vase. That slim neck gives roses just enough support. A floral frog in the lower vase can anchor the fern, greens and more roses.
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Pumpkin Bouquet
@andimans uses a pumpkin for a seasonal display. First cut a hole in the pumpkin. Add wet floral foam (a vase filled with water can work, too). Layer the eucalyptus first. Then add alternating colors of mums.
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Vintage Pitcher
A billy ball by any other name is also known as craspedia, billy buttons and woollyheads. They are great fresh or dried. @nest_cardiff drops a handful in this vintage blue pitcher with matching art. They also hover beautifully above wildflower collections.
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Patti Chronert/Getty Images
Minimalist Hydrangeas
It’s important to use the best vase shapes for each type of arrangement. To display fresh-cut hydrangeas, use a round or snifter-shaped vase. You can add sand and shells to the bottom of the vase for a beach-inspired vibe, too.
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Deb Perry/Getty Images
Patio Bouquet
Shop supermarket staples for an arrangement like this. Super soaked floral foam provides a base. Or make a grid of floral tape across a vase. Layer several types of greens, then any type of hydrangea, lilies, wax flower and stock. Keep watered!
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via @huntslonem/instagram
Bold Colors
Hunt Slonem mixes plants and pots in front of a gallery wall, but even without the art, anyone can put together a swoon-worthy tabletop of plants. Try to gather both foliage and flowering options. Lilies will bloom once. Orchids can rebloom with bright indirect light.
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Green on Green
@summerthorntondesign dresses the table with a twin monochromatic look. Start with two vases in the same color. One vase holds Queen Anne’s lace. The other matches the lacy white and green with snap dragons and larkspur.
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Patriotic Blooms
This looks more complicated than it is! For a patriot celebration, floral artist @christopeberreterot gathered various heights of red and blue pottery. He used two varieties of blue hydrangea to provide a base for red ranunculus and white Queen Anne’s lace.
Originally Published: September 14, 2022
Betsy Karetnick
Betsy is a lifestyle expert with 30 years of experience, and is a garden writer for Taste of Home. In 2004, she created The Portable Garden, a destination floral and event design company for corporate, nonprofit and personal events. Hired by Martha Stewart for her expertise in food and flowers, Betsy worked exclusively as a host on the channel for its nearly eight-year tenure on SiriusXM. She writes about food, drink and the garden, including on her Substack, "Dishtillery," a newsletter she shares with her sister.
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