A Complete Guide: How To Arrange Flowers In A Vase

March 22, 2024

Whether you鈥檙e a novice at floral arranging or a seasoned floral designer there is always something new to learn. After 15 years in the floral industry, we鈥檝e honed in on our best practices when arranging flowers in a vase and have compiled all our findings in this article for you to learn with us.听听

A few of the most important things to think about as you prepare to create an arrangement are the type of vase you鈥檒l work in, the mechanics inside the vase and the seasonal blooms you choose for your arrangement. From there you鈥檒l want to consider the style of your arrangement. Will it be round and symmetrical or perhaps it will be a loose, organic asymmetrical shape. Check out our complete guide to arranging flowers here.听听

In this article we鈥檒l focus on how to choose a vase for a low, lush arrangement, build your mechanics inside your vase, choose your flowers, and create an arrangement.听听

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Choose Your Vase

There are many types of vases that each have their own purpose from a compote vase to an ikebana vase to a cylinder vase. To learn more about each type of vase and how to use them read more听in our complete guide to arranging flowers.听听

We鈥檙e going to focus on arranging flowers in a dish or compote vase since this is a common type of vase to use at home. A compote vase is perfect for arranging low, lush arrangements that will live on a dining table, entryway table or kitchen counter. To prepare your vase make sure it is clean by washing it with soap and water. Dry it well before building your mechanics.听听

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Build Your Mechanics

Floral arranging becomes easier once you understand the mechanics to each type of vase and floral arrangement. For an ikebana vase it鈥檚 important that you place a floral pin frog in the bottom of the vase to hold your stems in place. For our low, lush arrangement in our compote vase we鈥檙e going to use a floral pin frog, floral netting and floral tape to create an armature to hold our flowers in place. The pin frog is placed at the bottom of the vase to hold stems in place. The floral netting is held in place in the vase by the floral tape creating a dual system to design a floral arrangement more easily. Don鈥檛 forget your water and it never hurts to add flower food to increase your stem鈥檚 lifespan. You can also create your own flower food at home with this !听

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Curate Your Blooms

Depending on where you live, it may be best to think about seasonality when choosing your blooms. If a farmer鈥檚 market is accessible to听you it鈥檚 a great place to pick up the season鈥檚 best flowers. However, the floral selection at markets such as听 and are great resources as well! If you happen to live in a rural area, there tends to be many things you can forage nearby such as, branches, berries and wildflowers in the right season. Learn more about our favorite flowers for each type of vase in our Complete Guide: How to Arrange Flowers.

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When we鈥檙e preparing to arrange flowers in a vase, we choose a focal flower which will be your largest sized flower such as peonies, dahlias or garden roses. The next thing we look for is a secondary flower that will be smaller than the focal flower and often a different shape. Some flowers to consider are spray roses, ranunculus and cosmos. Next up, comes the detail flower which is your smallest flower and something that is used sparingly in your floral arrangement. Some of our go-to choices for this flower are hellebores, daisies, or golden rod. Don鈥檛 forget to pick a greenery and we always love including a texture such as berries or small fruit. We go into more depth about color pallets in our floral dispatch if you are interested to learn more!听

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Arrange the Blooms in Your Vase

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To begin, add your greenery into your vase to create a foundation for your arrangement. This is where you can begin to create the shape of your floral arrangement. If you prefer a round, symmetrical shape you鈥檒l want to have coverage that is even. If you prefer an organic asymmetrical shape your greenery can vary in lengths.听听听

Next, let鈥檚 start placing your flowers. Your focal flowers will be placed first. Place a few on one side and rotate your vase to add a few to the other side.听Then comes your secondary flowers that can be nestled beside your larger blooms. At any time, you can add more greenery to take space or add more texture to your arrangement. After your secondary blooms are placed, you鈥檒l want to add your detail flowers. If you鈥檙e creating an asymmetrical floral arrangement these detail flowers can flutter above the others giving them a moment to shine.听听

Lastly, add in any other textures such as your berries or grasses to the arrangement. Don鈥檛 forget to keep rotating your vase as you arrange your flowers to make sure you haven鈥檛 missed any spots.听

Additional Pro Tips: Flower Arranging听

After you gather your flowers, give the bottoms a fresh trim and place them in a jar of water to allow them to hydrate before you place them in your floral arrangement.
As you鈥檙e working on your floral arrangement, trim your flowers longer than you think you鈥檒l need it to be. This way you can continue to trim the stem until the desired length. You can always cut it shorter, but you can鈥檛 add length back onto the flower鈥檚 stem.听
Choose a long-lasting, sharp pair of clippers and maintain them for a lifetime of floral arranging. Our favorite clipper is our Japanese Floral Clipper.
Gently pour the water out of your vase and replace it with fresh water every 1-2 days to keep flowers fresher longer.听听

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