How to choose the perfect vase
When it comes to choosing a vessel for your flowers, there’s plenty to consider. Our florist Harriet shares three different vase options (and when to use them) with us. Harriet is using the Soleil, Hannah and Elena bouquets, but you can apply these tips to any flowers you have at home!
What you’ll need
A selection of vases
Floristry tape or Sellotape
Cellophane
Sharp scissors
Floristry frog
(we’ll show you how to use it later!)
Tips for choosing vases
When you’re choosing vases, think about how many stems you’ve got and how many stems work in the vase. You don’t want to cramp them. But, equally, you want to make sure larger vases are full and fluffy! That’s where knowing which stems work best in which vase arrangement is a gamechanger. It allows you to take whatever stems you have to hand and always make the best of them. Here’s how...
How to arrange flowers
in a wide vase with a
‘nipped in’ waist
Wide vase and lots of stems to use?
Try this technique.
Often when you start arranging in a bigger, wider vase, your flowers spill out and there are lots of big gaps. That’s where floristry tape comes in handy (Sellotape works just as well) to create a grid system to hold all your stems in place.
1. Create a grid
Lay the tape across the top of the vase in one direction, then do the same in the other direction. This will create your basic grid shape.
2. Choose your filler flowers
These are fluffier and leafier, like bupleurum and statice. They will need cutting down to size (use the side of the vase to roughly measure the height needed). Start putting your ‘base’ flowers into the lattice you’ve made in a criss-cross fashion.
3. Add your focal stems
Now do the same with your focal flowers, which will be fully supported by the other stems in your grid system. Odd numbers are good - try five sunflowers or roses for example. Keep turning the vase 360-degrees as you go, so that you can see it from all angles. Play around with different height stems too. You want to think about where your flowers are going to be best seen. Are they going to be on a low or a higher table?
How to arrange flowers
in a tall column vase
Tallish stems and a tall, column-shaped vase?
Try this technique (and Harriet’s clever cellophane
hack to make stumpier stems appear taller!)
1. If your vase is much taller than your stems...
...add in some scrunched-up cellophane to the bottom of it, to give them a little boost. If your vase is opaque, you could even use plastic carrier bags or bin liners - providing they won’t be visible!
2. Add your tall flowers and arrange them as normal
Lillies are great in a tall vase, as are things like stocks, gladioli and sunflowers. You could also add some fronds of greenery for extra colour.
How to arrange flowers in a shallow dish using a floristry frog
Got some stems from a previous arrangement you want to enjoy for a few more days? Or maybe a few select stems you want to show of? This is a great way to make a more modern, sculptural arrangement.