Get It Growing: Create your own floral bouquets

Who doesn’t love a vase of fresh cut flowers? It’s like bringing the garden into your home. It provides beautiful color and fragrance, and if kept properly, the bouquet can last for days. You don’t have to be a professional florist to arrange flowers; you only need a few tools to get you going.
You can create a gorgeous arrangement for your home or someone special with just a few items. First, start by choosing the design style for the piece. Whether you are creating a delicate feminine piece full of pinks, purples, whites and baby blues or something tropical with exotic plant material, the choices are endless.
You can create many designs. It could range from a romantic bouquet with dark red roses to a very neutral arrangement. You can have a small, compact design or be loose and wild. Make an impact by using a single flower type, such as all tulips, hydrangeas or roses. Or make it a monochromatic selection and use all white or all purple flowers. Go for it. Mix it all up, and make a rustic or tropical arrangement.
You can buy flowers at a local grocery, and wholesale stores offer a wide variety from which to choose. Some of the most commonly used flowers include alstroemerias, asters, black-eyed Susan, buttercup, calla lily, carnations, chrysanthemum, crocus, daffodils, daisies, dahlias, delphinium, dianthus, gardenias, gerbera daisies, geranium, iris, lavender, lilies, orchids, peonies, periwinkle, petunia, poppy, roses, snapdragons, sunflowers, tulips and zinnias.
You can also purchase filler greenery such as baby’s breath, bells of Ireland, dusty miller, eucalyptus, fern, Italian ruscus and ivy to add texture to the arrangement and fill in.
Next, you need a vase and some cutting shears. The size of your arrangement depends on the size of the vase. Put water into the vase. If your flowers came with a preservative solution, add it now. If you don’t have any, you can use a few drops of bleach to kill any bacteria and keep the flowers fresh.
A good rule of thumb is to make your bouquet about one and a half times taller than the container or vase that it will be placed in. For a neat look, balance the width and the height. However, you can create pieces that are wild and free and more natural looking. Make the greenery higher on one side while letting it spill over on the other to give your arrangement some asymmetry and interest.
To arrange the flowers, start by adding the largest flowers first and then work in a circle and turn the vase, adding flowers as you go to create a symmetrical design. It is best to cut the stems at an angle about an inch from the bottom with garden shears to allow stems to take up more water. Studies have shown that cutting the stems under running water helps them take up water right away. Remove any foliage that would fall below the waterline.
Layer in the next variety of flower and repeat until all flowers have been added, and finish the arrangement by adding greenery, baby’s breath or berries.
It’s always a wonderful thing to have flowers you can take from your own garden or landscape. Some flowers that will grow well in Louisiana and make great cut flowers for arranging include sunflowers, ageratum, roses, dusty miller, allium, zinnias, gerbera daisies, asters, lilies, Queen Anne’s lace, sweet William, yarrow, bachelor buttons, celosia, cosmos, marigold, gomphrena, hydrangeas, salvias and echinacea.
When creating arrangements from your home landscape, trim flowers early in the morning so they last longer. Be sure to cut and place them directly in water to assure they take up water right away. When arranging, cut the stems at an angle under running warm water at about an inch from the bottom of the stem.
To help your arrangements last as long as possible, use something to prevent microbial growth. A few drops of bleach will help, but no more than a few drops, or it will damage the plants. You can change the water daily and skip the bleach all together. Warm water is best — not too hot or too cold, just right. Remove dead flowers and cut 1/4 to 1/2 inch of stem off every time you change the water to encourage water uptake.
Flowers in our homes help bring the outdoors in and make them look and feel cozier. Give someone in your life the joy of a gorgeous bouquet you’ve arranged yourself. Nothing says “I love you” like flowers.