So 12 days ago, I purchased an $8.99 bouquet of fresh flowers from my local grocery store. Honey and I were having friends over for dinner and I wanted to set a nice table. After pairing it with some cuttings from our garden bushes and plants, it became the centerpiece to my table.
After the dinner, I let the arrangement take centerstage on my dining room table. I changed out the water twice because the kiss of death for any arrangement is letting it sit for prolonged periods of time in dirty water. Eventually, it was showing signs of dying. Not ready to give it up yet to the garbage, I did what I like to do with flowers; I gave it a refresh in order to enjoy it for another 5 to 7 days.
Here's where we started:
You can see that it's a bit droopy and some of the flowers were starting to brown. However, there is still quite a bit of life left in them, and with a bit of a refresh and some pruning, you can always make flowers last longer. So let's get started...
First, pull out all the vases that you think you will need to crop your arrangement into smaller displays. I ended up using all but the oval green glass vase in the back. You can reuse the same vase you have if you want to keep to one, but I like making these smaller vignettes and spreading them around so as to enjoy them in other parts of our home. I also pull out my watering can and fill it with water so I can fill the vases as I am arranging.
Carefully begin deconstructing your arrangement, laying them out into groups by plant. Discard all florals that are wilted and done for. This way you can see what you have floral wise and what you have filler wise. Since the filler came from our gardens, I can add to what I have here if needed. This time, I didn't need to make additions.
You now want to look over each flower stem and remove dried wilted leaves and flowers. You can see here that these daisies have two wilted leaves that needed to be pulled off. By removing these types of things you direct what energy the cutting has into the parts that are still living. This can prolong the life of the flower.
Now, snip off the end of the stem about an inch from cut end. (You may make cuts later to shorten the stem for your chosen vase, but don't do that now.)
You can see that the stem base is a moldy sort of green and will be softened from sitting in the water. By this point, it has slowed or stopped drawing up water to the flower. Use a SHARP pair of scissors to cut your stem at an angle. (A sharp scissor will not crush the inside of the stem the way a dull pair will. I also prefer scissors to knives when cutting flowers, but that's totally up to you.) This will open up the stem at a new point where it can begin to draw in water when placed in your new arrangement.
Tip: When arranging flowers, NEVER have leaves under the water. This will pollute the water quickly as the leaves will rot in the water.
Do this to each stem, including any of your filler stems as needed. With woody stems such as bush stems, you will see darkening. That's okay, still cut a bit off the end.
Now, look over any of your florals. This chrysanthemum was starting to look a little weary underneath, but her top was still looking pretty great. I carefully tugged on each of those browned petals and they came off easily. Once done, she looked like this:
A little less petals, but still some life there.
Now we can start with the first mini arrangement.
I filled my vase and because the opening was large, I used all the bushy branches as a stabilizer. Next, I added the cut florals, trimming the stems even more to make the height comparable with the vase.
Here's a good rule of thumb when making arrangements: Your design should be in balance with your vase or vessel. Since this vase is squat and long, with a wide opening, my arrangement will be the same. It "mimics" the vase in design and flow. A tall arrangement would not look good here.
Once done, you can see that by adding 2 of the flower stems and a bit of filler you have a great NEW arrangement. It found it's new home on a sweet shelf that once held a house phone! Yes, this 1963 house still has a landline although we go rid of the house phone a few years ago. I think the flowers look great against that bead-board and bring out the wallpaper leaves as well.
Onto the next mini arrangement...
The bulk of the flowers made their way into a vase that I often use on my kitchen island. I designed it to be a asymmetrical so that it has texture and looks different from any angle when in the kitchen. Since it is one my island I had to make sure that it was interesting from all sides. I paired it with my Pioneer Woman Mercantile wooden pear that I use for my rings when cooking. It doesn't take up too much room and is easily moved if I need the whole island for cooking.
You can see here how the large chrysanthemum made it's way into a small vase as the star of the half bathroom.
And finally, the last little bloom takes the coveted window sill above my kitchen sink. It too has center stage and will be enjoyed while doing dishes.
As the days progress, add fresh water to your arrangements. Because you've cut the stems, they will start to draw water so they will need more to prolong their life. You can also dump and replace water if it's an easy thing to do.
I should be able to get another week out of these flowers before I resign them to the garbage. When you consider that this $8.99 flower bunch will have given us 5 arrangements close to 20 days of enjoyment, it's worth the minimal investment. It's about $.50 per day!
Now that's breaking some rules!!!
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