Summer Flower Arrangements

Here are a few of the arrangements that Hope and I have put together lately. She made the one in the second picture by using a special designed vase. I am always on the look out for different types of containers to hold my flowers. The first picture is a large basket type container. I put pint jars full of water down in the "basket" and I filled each jar with flowers. I then added water to the container itself and added filler in the container to hide the jars. The last picture holds my favorite flower vase of all. It is an old coffee pot from our camping supplies. One of the kids actually was using it to scoop animal feed. They left it by the chicken pen, and as soon as I picked it up a light bulb came on that it would make the perfect vase for flowers. I love it because it looks rustic on or kitchen table or setting on our fireplace hearth in the living room. I find that changing the container can change the whole look of flowers. I have a special shelf in our laundry room that I keep these various containers. They are handy when I have an inspirational moment.

I have seen flower frogs in stores to help arrange. There are several different frogs available. One sets in the bottom of the container, and you poke the stems of the flowers into individual pins. This gives your bouquets an appearance of standing alone. Another type of frog sets on top of your vase and looks something like a toothbrush holder. I do not have any of these frogs although I don't think they are expensive. I have used Scotch tape to create my own frog. Take the vase and fill it with water. Make sure you use plenty of water because you don't want to add any more later. It would make the tape wet. Place strips of scotch tape across the top to make a graph pattern. (Kind of like tic tac toe). Make sure your vase is good and dry before adding the tape. This graph will give you holes to add your flowers. These holes will give your flowers something to make them stand up so they don't rest upon the side of the vase. Make sure you use enough filler that you don't see the tape. Baby's Breath is a nice filler that is VERY easy to grow.

I plan on growing more varieties of flowers next year. I have loved each and every flower that I have grown this year. I just want to add to my collection. I am already researching different cut flower varieties. I want to add some flowers that dry well so I can enjoy the beauty of the summer's harvest all year long. I will post my list once my research is done. More than likely this will be later in the fall or early winter.

grace and peace,

julie