Spring Flower Arrangement

Spring Flower Arrangement

We know what it is like coming out of winter having missed the wonders of blooms from our own gardens for the last 5 or so months. This means we can now turn on the charm with easy spring floral arrangements that will highlight our delightful early bloomers. In the scheme of things we had plenty of flowers to choose from in our last summer and autumn seasons to cut for our vases. In spring the quantity and diversity may be less but our pleasure in at last being able to see and enjoy the early bloomers encourages us to create arrangements. Over the years I have planted a great variety of spring bulbs including daffodils (Narcissus), hyacinths, tulips, grape hyacinths (Muscari), snowdrops (Galanthus), glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa), squills (Scilla), crocus and even some Fritillaria.  It is such a delight when they emerge that I bring some of the flowers into the house to better enjoy them. The language of floriography associates blooms with specific emotions. This includes the following: snowdrops with hope, tulips with love, scillas with forgiveness and crocus with youthful gladness, so you can think about this when designing you arrangements. The proper treatment of the cut flowers will help them stay fresh and last as long as possible. This article will set out some simple strategies to get the most out of your spring garden blooms with some visual ideas for types of arrangements. But of course feel free to play with these to accommodate the types of blooms you choose and your personal preferences.  

 

Before you go out to cut your garden blooms, aim to choose flowers that are just starting to open so you can enjoy their full flowering stage. This also means that first thing in the morning is the optimal time to harvest as the blooms have spent the night soaking up moisture. While it is possible that flowers may bloom if the buds are tightly shut you run the risk of flowers not opening at all. However, tulips can generally be counted on to go into full flower from the full bud stage. When selecting flowers from your garden, do not choose flowers either too early or too late in their cycles. You do not want to impede a bud’s growth nor do you want to choose a flower that will fade quickly once brought indoors. For

vitality, pick them either at the beginning of the day, or in the early evening when their food stores are at their peak. Never pick flowers at mid-day because their moisture content is very low which could lead to wilting.

Once you have selected the flowers for your arrangements use a very sharp knife or shears to make a 45 degree angle cut across the stem. Keep your snips clean to prevent transmission of disease, thereby giving a cleaner cut. A diagonal cut makes sure the stem does not rest directly on the base of the container blocking access to the water. Remove foliage that will sit below the water line in the arrangement container. Leaves underwater will cause bacteria to grow rapidly which will also reduce the lifespan of your blooms. For flowers other than daffodils, snowdrops  and hyacinths (see below) put the cut stem immediately into water. Keep your water jug clean between uses to prevent bacterial spread.

After being cut some bulb flowers, including daffodils, snowdrops and hyacinths exude a white, milky substance on the ends of their stems to attempt to heal themselves. They should be kept out of water until they stop leaking this stuff which takes about a half hour. Then place the flowers in warm water for an hour to allow the remainder of this substance to wash away. Do not put oozing stems in with other flowers as the sap is toxic. It can also be irritating to skin so try not to get it on you. Do not recut their stems after conditioning as the flowers are  now ready for you to arrange your blooms in vases perhaps as suggested in this article. Purchased cut bulbs, like daffodils and tulips that are available in the spring, typically have already been properly treated and are ready to use. If these stems are recut they will ooze more sap and need to be retreated accordingly.

Prolonging your Blooms: To keep your flowers freshest change the vase water every day. Doing so will prevent the need to add a drop of bleach to control bacteria. The water should be cold, adding a pinch of sugar, a splash of lemon-lime or powdered flower food for the opening blooms. When changing the water you can recut the stems of other than the sap-oozing flowers. Also pay attention to where you place your vases. Fruits, if nearby, give off ethylene when ripening which, similarly, with reduce a flower’s lifespan. Both heat and air-conditioning will rapidly dry flowers out as will putting them in too much sunshine which will cause wilting. Under good conditions and when cut at the recommended stage your flowers could last as follows: Hyacinth 3-7 days, Narcissus 5-7 days, Tulips 7-10 days, Fritillarias 5-7 days and Muscari up to a week.

Tips on Some Spring Bulbs: This section gives some helpful tips when selecting and harvesting spring flowers. For example, daffodils (Narcissus) are best harvested when the buds are looking downward like a goose’s head. They can be stored a few days out of water at this stage until you are ready to use them. Then they will need to be cut and their sap-oozing tendencies managed as already described. Snowdrops(Galanthus) should be cut when 2/3 of the stem’s flowers are open. They have sappy stems so treat as indicated. Tulips (Tulipa) are one of our favourite spring bulbs and the general rule is to harvest when the buds have begin to colour. The single and parrot types last longer when harvested with still closed buds and tulips can be stored for a while at a cold temperature at this stage before using. The double varieties become blousier in a vase if harvested once the buds just open. Tulips keep growing in a vase so tuck them lower in arrangements to allow for them to grow up and out. They will also grow towards light so keep this in mind for placing and rotating your vase. Cut the stems giving about 2/3 of their height leaving the leaves to store energy in the bulbs for next year. I find that the old fashioned, single tulips last far longer in my garden with the modern fancy types only surviving a year or so. Fritillarias (Fritillaria) should be cut when the flowers are just starting to open and Crown Imperials do best before they crack open, just when the buds are coloured. Let them have a long drink after harvesting. The Crown Imperials have a fragrance that is not to everyone’s liking. Harvest Hyacinths and Muscari when about a third of their florets have opened. This will give lots of time to also enjoy their fragrance. Condition sappy stems in water as indicated.

 

1. Celebrate the Singles

This is a very simple approach using bud vases of various sizes where you choose one particular bloom to highlight. Without any other flower or foliage distractions this allows you to focus on its beauty. So many spring flower options will give you a great variety of blooms to enjoy. I never cease to be amazed by the beautiful delicacy of tiny squills, glory-of-the-snow, grape hyacinths, snowdrops and crocus flowers. This is in addition to the blousy tulips, impressively varied daffodils and colourful, fragrant muscari and hyacinths.

     2. The More the Merrier

Still on the theme of celebrating a single flower type, in an arrangement you can easily go for multiple stems of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths or groups of other spring bulbs. Plus you can play with combinations of their flower colours where there are different varieties of the same type of bulb. You can cut stems at different heights to better enjoy a varied selection and to support optimal placement in the arrangement. For taller blooms you can add in sticks/branches to support their stems or weave a mesh with flexible twigs to put at the top of your vase. Then insert the stems through the twig armature. Select an appropriately sized vase for the size of your clusters. Keep in mind that some blooms, like hyacinths, also have tremendous fragrance to enjoy so the more the merrier gives you greater fragrance too.

     3. Variety is the Spice of Spring

Now you can get creative with unique combinations of different spring bulbs or other flowers that allow you to put different flower colours and types together. Feel free to add purchased foliage or other blooms as you like. Where you have blooms of different sizes placing the larger ones in the middle with the smaller ones surrounding along the edge is often pleasing. For greater variety of vegetation and texture you can add in cut branches like pussy willows or budding cherries and other decorative elements from your spring garden such as leaves that remained evergreen under the snow or ivies that cascade down the vase. In addition, you can add additional accent materials such as ribbons or other to help set off the colours of the flowers. Similarly the colour and nature of your vase, such as pottery or mugs, can do the same so be creative

      4. Potted Arrangements

Finally I would be remiss if I did not include a few ideas to showcase some of the forced potted bulbs that can easily be purchased early in the spring. I often look at those small pots and think that the flowers would look much more attractive if they could be repotted into a suitable receptacle and augmented with attractive foliage, moss, stones, decorative twine or whatever strikes your fancy. Alternatively, hide their existing, commercial pots by placing them into a suitable container and adding whatever you like. These could become spring centrepieces or smaller potted arrangements for your windowsill or table where they could be seen easily and

thus readily appreciated. Even bowls or containers that do not have drainage holes will work as temporary planters as bulb flowers are short-lived so they just need to be settled in and watered while they bloom. Keep in mind that bulbs that have finished flowering can be transplanted into your garden to rebloom next year. This means that you need to keep them growing until planting out is suitable after the ground is no longer frozen. You will need to cut off the spent flowers but keep the plants and leaves alive to regenerate the bulbs for next year. I have had good success doing this with hyacinths and daffodils in particular.

 

Reference: From Seed to Bloom by Milli Proust, Quadrille Publishing, 2022