How to Arrange Grocery Store Flowers

My favorite flower go-to tip is that when the flowers first start to droop and look like they’re heading towards the end of their lives, adding a tablespoon or two of vodka to the water can perk the flowers right up for up to another 4 days! Never fails for me.

xx

Beautiful tips!! I Like it! It’s so helpful for us. Thanks for sharing.

My mother used to walk the paths of a cemetery near our house and she found the discard pile of dying flowers. She’d pick out whatever was still pretty and dry them in bunches around our house. She was also known to cut vines from our property or along country roads and arrange them around a window or on a mantle. This works well in the colder months when there aren’t leaves, but just artful, twisted twigs.

My husband will sometimes bring home a grocery store bouquet of wildflowers. I cut them short and arrange them loosely in a jar. It feels very relaxed and Laura Ingalls Wilder-y to me.

In my neighborhood, there’s a row of purple lilac bushes around a city parking lot. I was walking there a few days ago and notices a lilac branch on the ground (likely from the wind).

I just took it home and put it in a clear bottle and it looked like the most natural refreshing thing on my countertop. Plus, the smell was amazing and spread to all the rooms in the house.

The “stick to the same color pallet” reminded me of two weddings I was in as a bridesmaid. In one, we each carried a different white flower (I was lucky and got gorgeous calla lilies) and the bride’s bouquet had all the bridesmaid’s flowers. In another we each carried a different colored tulip, and the bride’s bouquet was made up of all the colors. Simple and beautiful both ways.

When some of the flowers in the arrangement start dying, I pull them out and use whichever elements still look good to create other, smaller arrangements. Even if it’s only a few blooms to put on your bedside table, the value (joy) continues.

If the top of your vase is very wide and you don’t want your stems to fall to one side, create grid of sellotape over the mouth of the vase and put the stems in the gaps, finish the edges of the grid with greenery so you cant see the sellotape stuck over the lip of the vase.

First I need a clear dining table top to house my beautifully arranged store bought flowers!

A great tip to preserve a bouquet longer is to dissolve a teaspoon of sugar in hot water and add it and a tablespoon of white vinegar to your vase. The sugar is a natural food for the flowers and the vinegar helps kill any bacteria. Works like a charm!

Love these ideas. I definitely want to try the the flowers as a place setting. So chic.

Once you have your arrangement in hand just the way you’d like it, slide your vase near the edge of the table and line up your bouquet with the vase’s top rim, then cut (with scissors skimming the top of the table) so you can snip the stems to their perfect lengths all at once.

I always just buy a few different filler flowers and put them in a pitcher. They last much longer than the regular flowers and look more natural/wild flower-esque.

I wish Kendra would have sourced her flowers from the many farmers markets here in Nor Ca! Sadly, cheap flowers have a high price tag for the planet and people. They are typically flown in from South America, heavily sprayed, and picked by people who live in poverty. I’m a flower farmer who sells $8-10 bouquets at my local farmers market (organic).

I would add an arranging tip – just follow the flowers. Put them in a vase in a way so that every flower has its space and they don’t get in each other’s way. They should “breathe”, visually. Put the heavier/fuller flowers on the “bottom” and let anything that is “thinner”, lighter, more delicate, stand higher in the whole arrangement.

this reminds me of ‘high’ and ‘low’ outfits; pairing simple, inexpensive pieces with beautiful, high end pieces/accessories. just looking at it with a creative eye and making stunning looks.

I love adding herbs to my arrangements in home. Fresh Thyme and Rosemary look great and smell DIVINE!

I recommend supporting your local economy and local farmer by purchasing flowers from local flower farmers, farmers markets, or florists who source from local farmers! Local and seasonal flowers are more beautiful, last longer, and smell better than their imported counterparts!

As a professional floral designer, I often find that artistic, natural movement is what’s lacking in most arrangements. Go outside and cut a few branches or stems of something green that’s had to bend to find the light. That curvy line will amp up your grocery store blooms in a major way!

I love a compact, low arrangement of flowers, especially as a dinner table centerpiece. Easier to talk over ; )
Also, thrift stores are the best source for vases and other vessels. Cheap, and there’s always a large selection.

I just bought my mom a bouquet of crepe paper flowers for Mother’s Day and I CAN’T WAIT to surprise her with flowers that won’t die and are so exquisitely made they’re like a true work of art. Here’s where I got mine but there are a lot of good options on Etsy too! https://www.amaranthuspaperflora.com/

I just find greenery from the garden and stick it in a vase/jar/bowl…it always looks amazing. Also, a few sprigs of flowering herbs look great too.

Tip #3 looks beautiful but would last about 3 seconds with my cat, whose favorite game is to be shooed of the table.

Thank you for this!! Hot topic in my household right now as I’ve been on a Trader Joe’s flower buying kick.

My grandpa used to always pick a single flower from their garden, put it in a small empty perfume bottle, and set it on top of their piano to await my grandma’s discovery. It was so simple, yet so elegant all at the same time. I remember one time trying to achieve the same look in my own bedroom as an 8 year old. All I could find was an empty, plastic hotel mouth wash bottle, but I thought it was beautiful! Haha