Flower Rearranging

I’m always grateful when some kind soul brings me a bouquet of flowers. Not simply because of the gesture, but also because I can take apart the bouquet and make many flower RE-arrangements to brighten up my house.

Many florist creations are works of art that require nothing but a vase of water and a prominent location in the house. However some, frankly, are just plain bad. There are good plants in there but without any artistry tying them together it’s a shame to let those beautiful blooms end their life in such a sad way.

Take this bouquet for instance.

It was a lovely and thoughtful gift, but when you open up the paper wrap here is what you will find:

Some mums dyed blue (yuck).

A collection of orange flowers, some red roses, and some lilies.

And a bunch of filler greens.

There is nothing all that interesting in this bouquet and all mashed together it looks pretty lame, but broken out into 4 simple arrangements it becomes a lot more beautiful.

Remember those hideous dyed blue mums? Well, I’m not a fan of dyed flowers but a few of them in this small green ceramic vase wrapped in a corn husk ribbon and they become more sweet. It’s keeping the corn husk wrapped mason jar vase in good company.

The roses got lost and looked cheap in the primarily orange palette. In a small mason jar with a sprig of garden greens and some of the “filler” eucalyptus, they really shine with the vintage flare that suits a pair of red roses.

The Gerbera daisies remind me of summer and modern art. I just couldn’t see how they fit with a fall arrangement so I didn’t fight it. In a rectangular glass vase, they have their chance to swoop over and brighten a small space.

After the bulk of the arrangement was picked off what was left was a few stems of white lilies, orange Alstroemeria, and the filler greens. I usually throw most of the filler greens in the green bin with the exception of eucalyptus and the Monstera deliciosa leaf. Adding some Physalis alkekengi (Chinese lantern) from the garden made this final grouping a festive fall arrangement that works perfectly with ornamental gourds.

Next time you receive a thoughtful but fugly arrangement, rearrange it and let the flowers live up to their potential. Honor them for their beauty and spread them around the house. Toss out those filler greens and go snip something pretty from the garden!