We are going to focus this information on making a bouquet with all of the summer’s beautiful flowers.
There are lots of formulas to make bouquets, but our favourite method is just to pick the things you like the look of! This works best if you pick about 3 of each type of flower, greenery, and colour so that your whole bouquet looks cohesively put together.
If you want to go one step beyond picking the nice flowers, think about how the flowers will work together, considering their colour, texture, size and greenery.
Colour
See what looks good together! Coordinating or contrasting, single colour or a rainbow. Try and get at least 3 of each colour, although you can get away with just 1 of something if it is your big, focal flower since that will really catch your eye!
Texture
Flowers come in all different textures and each one serves a purpose in making a bouquet. Some flowers are round to go in the main body of the bouquet, others are spikes to stick out the top, others drape down around the outside, and others are small and airy to give some volume. How will each one work together in your bouquet?
Size
Big flowers are your focal flowers that draw the eye into your bouquet. But a bouquet of showstoppers means nothing can shine! It is important to have a variety of sizes of flowers in your bouquet to keep it looking interesting.
Greenery/Filler
A pop of green throughout your bouquet or put around the outside of your bouquet finishes off a bouquet quite nicely. It helps unify the colours and makes it look full of life. Not all greenery is green either; some are red or even purple!
A sample bouquet
The Sunflowers are the focal flower that draws your eye into the bouquet. They are a big flower and also the only yellow flower so that helps to highlight it.
The dark pink and burgundy flowers are the supporting flowers. They are all in the same colour spectrum so they cohesively work together even though they are all different textures and sizes.
The Pennycress adds a spiky element to give this bouquet some height. It also add some greenery. There are also one or two leaves on the stems near the bottom of the bouquet which adds even more greenery.
There are at least 3 of everything in this bouquet. It may not be exactly 3 of the same flower, but it is at least 3 of the same colour. There are at least 3 sunflowers, but some bouquets you can also get away with having only one large flower that takes the spotlight.
Tips on how to pick your flowers
Each flower has specific methods for picking. Some flowers you pick when they are fully open, others half closed, others must pass something called “the wiggle test”, and yet others must have the smallest amount of pollen ring in their centre. A flower picked at the perfect time is going to look the best in your bouquet because it will last the longest and will also not droop or lose it shape as easily. We will explain at the field how each flower should be picked.
You also want to pick nice, long stems, at least 12-18 inches long. That way you have lots to height to work with when you are assembling your bouquet. It is especially important to get long stems on the spiky flowers that will stick out the top of your bouquet. There may be side shoots or unopened buds on the stem you have chosen. These side stems will be taken off when you are cleaning your stems during bouquet assembly. They are most likely not going to bloom once picked and will also take energy away from the main flower, making the main flower not last quite as long.
Assembling your bouquet
This may take 10-15 minutes per bouquet!
The first step in making your bouquet is to take off any of the extra leaves and side shoots on the stems. This results in a much tidier-looking bouquet. It is also easier to add in some extra greenery afterwards than save some greenery on the stems. Taking off the leaves also helps your flowers last longer because the energy left in the stem goes towards keeping the main flower alive rather than the leaves or any unbloomed buds.
After preparing all the stems, it is time to put together your bouquet!
You will want to build your bouquet in your non-dominant hand, holding midway down the stems or lower. Hold it loosely so that you don’t crush any stems and be ready to turn it around as needed.
When assembling your bouquet, the design all depends on which kinds of flowers you picked. Generally, we suggest you start with your spiky flowers that will stick out of the top of your bouquet. Then put the rest of your flowers lower than these tall flowers. Our favorite method for deciding where to put each flower in the bouquet is to put a flower in a spot that looks boring! You will want to put a flower or two in your bouquet, then turn your bouquet in your hand so that you get a round bouquet, not a one sided bouquet. After you have put all your flowers in the main body of the bouquet, end with any draping flowers and greenery around the outside.
Voila! Tie off your bouquet and trim the ends to the length of the shortest stem in your bouquet.
Care of your bouquet
A well-hydrated flower lasts longer than a thirsty flower.
When you get your bouquet home, clip off the bottom centimeter or two of the stems, then put your bouquet in cold water. This will renew your flowers’ ability to hydrate quickly. If the flowers have wilted in transit, they will perk back up within a few hours.
Everyday or more, change the water in your vase. This reduces the amount of bacteria and fungus in the water that make the flowers spoil faster. Those packages of flower food or a penny in the water are not needed if you are changing the water every day. A few drops of bleach in the water helps too, but is not a requirement either.
Keeping your bouquet out of the sun and in a cooler spot will also help to extend your flowers’ lifespan.
Trim the stems if they are getting soft. This renews the flowers ability to easily get enough water and also removes a place for bacteria to grow.