Empty Nest Home Exec

Flowers and gardening bring me so much joy!!! And now that I have an empty nest, I have more time than ever to spend on my gardening passion. So, three years ago, technically before I became an empty nester, we significantly increased the size of our garden, my husband built an amazing fence to keep the critters out and I started planting flowers en masse.  (Or at least en masse in my mind.  I am sure there are gardens much larger than mine.)  I have grown many of my flowers from seed as opposed to buying nursery started plants which makes it possible for me to have unique flowers.  It’s been a great project for me and I love sharing the flowers with anyone who wants them.  I will often arrange flowers and give them to friends.  Fresh flowers bring so much joy and a creation of your own adds a special touch.  It’s not hard to arrange flowers.  It just takes a little knowledge and some practice.  So, I thought I’d share with you some tips on flower arranging so you too can share the joy of unique flower arrangements created by you! 

Choosing flowers & greenery

You don’t have to have a cut flower garden to create bouquets.  Trader Joe’s has an amazing selection of flowers, greenery, and accent flowers that are pretty affordable.  Sam’s Club and Costco have flowers as do many grocery stores and of course you can go to your local florist as well.  Here are a few tips on deciding what flowers to use:

Tips on choosing flowers and greenery:

• Choose 2-3 colors or go monochromatic
• Stick to the color wheel.  Use complimentary colors or all warm or cool colors.
• Use similar shades of color – either all bright or all pale.
• Highlight one color by using 1 vibrant color.
• Don’t use colors that are the same.  They will blend together.
• When you are learning, stick to fewer colors.
• Choose flowers with a variety of sizes and textures
• You will need flowers that are larger like roses, carnations, zinnias, dahlias, etc.  You will also need accent flowers such as spray roses, snapdragons, eryngium, craspedia, forget-me-nots, feverfew, alstroemeria, etc.
• Choose greenery.  I like to use greenery in my yard, cutting off sprigs of leaves from various bushes or plants.

Process the flowers and greenery

• Remove leaves – Leaves in the water will grow bacteria and mold
• If using roses, remove any outer petals that don’t look nice.
• Trim about one inch off the stem cutting at an angle.
• To open carnations, warm them by breathing on them and “stretching” them open
• To open a rose, turn it upside down and spin it by putting the stem between your flattened hands and quickly rolling the stem back and forth.
• For the greenery, remove leaves from the stem that would end up in the water when placed in the vase.

Arrange the flowers

• The flowers should be above the container by about 1/3 the height of the container.
• Trim each stem as you put it in the arrangement.  Err on the side of too long. 
• Distribute the varieties of flowers throughout the arrangement.
• Vary the heights but keep it balanced.  For example, if you have a flower sticking out on one side, do it on the other side as well.  Do this in pairs of two or three. 
• You should have symmetry but not too much.
• Add greenery.  It makes your arrangement look bigger since it adds bulk.
• No holes or gaps should be seen.  Look at the arrangement from all angles and sides and fill them in.  The exception to this is if your arrangement has a back, like when it’s on the pulpit at church.  In that case you would concentrate your flowers in the front.
• This next point may sound contradictory to what I just told you but you can have empty space.  It needs to be balanced and not look like a hole but enhance the look of the arrangement. 

Additional Notes

• To help your arrangement last longer you can do the following:
• Use filtered water and plant food.
• Keep them out of direct sunlight.
• Keep them in a cool environment.
• Keep them in water. Add water if needed.
• Dump out the old water and put in new water after a few days.
• Keep leaves out of the water.

If you don’t like your first arrangement, don’t give up.  You will get better with practice. To improve your arranging skills take a class, watch videos, pay attention to arrangements you see, or even help a florist via an unpaid internship.  Everyone has their own style.  Don’t feel like you have to arrange flowers in a certain way.  Do what you like and have fun!

– A special thanks to my daughter Madison, who is an amazing florist, for her help with this article.