Inspiration
Landscape Plants That Create Stunning Bouquets
Story Highlights...
At Outdoor Dreams, we believe that one of the best ways to enjoy your landscape is to bring it indoors. Instead of only enjoying your landscape while outside, we encourage you to clip your favorite flowers and foliages for arrangements to be enjoyed throughout your home.
Science has discovered that simply having fresh-cut flowers in your home can increase feelings of wellbeing, reduce anxiety, and give you an increased sense of calm at home. Utilizing your landscape for flower arrangements allows you to enjoy these benefits without breaking the bank at the local florist...which, quite frankly, might have the exact opposite effects.
In this article, we suggest a wide variety of landscape plants that can be used to make wonderful and unique flower arrangements. We hope that this comprehensive list inspires you to start clipping the garden and bringing it inside!
gETTING sTARTED
Flowering Shrubs
If you're looking to make a large arrangement or centerpiece, the best place to start is your shrubbery. Instead of smaller, single flower perennials and bulbs, shrubs provide larger blooms and masses of flowers. Additionally, shrubs allow you to clip longer stems that are needed to create larger, "show-stopper" arrangements.
As an added bonus, because most shrubs should be pruned soon after flowering, clipping stems for a bouquet gives you a headstart on your pruning maintenance.
Pictured: Lilacs and Viburnum
Lilac
The heavenly scented flowers of this shrub will fill up your home more than any candle or air freshener. Lilac clippings do require a lot of water. Check out this article on how to prep your lilacs to prevent them from wilting.
Azaleas
One of the biggest complaints about azaleas is that the flowers are so easily ruined by the Spring rain. To protect and prolong your enjoyment of the flowers, simply clip some branches and bring them inside for a bouquet.
Viburnum
When you want the look of hydrangea, but you're hydrangeas aren't blooming yet...Look no further than the classic viburnum. The 'Snowball' varieties are especially stunning and offer sturdy, interesting foliage as well.
Forsythia
This vigorous growing shrub always has plenty of branches to prune. If you have an established forsythia, you could probably clip enough branches for 2-3 bouquets without noticing.
Butterfly Bush
Another prolific blooming shrub that provides plenty of flower-covered branches for clipping. Much like the lilacs, the sweetly scented flowers will fill the room with a beautiful aroma.
Hydrangeas
Available at every florist and grocery store, this one shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Whether by themselves or in a mixed arrangement, all hydrangeas make great cut flowers.
Proven Winner
'Limelight' Hydrangea
All hydrangeas make great cut flowers, but the 'Lightlight' variety makes for truly exceptional bouquets. To start, this shrub is a vigorous bloomer that allows you to clip a stunning bouquet and still have a beautiful shrub in the landscape. This shrub also has really long stems that are perfect for creating a big, showy bouquet. And finally, as with most hydrangeas, the flowers dry easily, allowing you to enjoy them for an extended period of time.
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Roses (duh!)
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Flowering Quince
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Weigela
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Camellia
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Rose of Sharon
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Abelia
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Mock Orange
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Spirea (Pictured)
You can never go wrong with...
Native Wildflowers!
At Outdoor Dreams, we are advocates of using native plants in the landscape. One of the advantages of using native wildflowers is that many of them make wonderful cut flowers. There is just something about a bouquet of native wildflowers that feels very "Americana."
Black Eyed Susan
Blanket Flower
Coneflower
Garden Phlox
Coreopsis
Butterfly Weed
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Asters (Pictured)
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Queen Anne's Lace
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Liatris (Gayfeather)
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Helianthus
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Bee Balm
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False Indigo
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Golden Rod
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Yarrow
Additional
Flowering Perennials
Along with Native Wildflowers, there are numerous perennials found in landscapes that make wonderful cut flowers. Some, like Delphinium and Peonies, are longtime favorites in bouquets while others, like Lenten Roses and Astilbe, are newer to the scene, but quickly becoming trendy favorites.
Pictured: Pincushion Flower & Veronica
Delphinium
This traditional perennial brings stature & elegance to any arrangement because of its striking colors & upright habit.
Astilbe
For the longest vase life, cut the flower spikes with the lower half as open florets, but before the entire spike opens.
Lenten Roses
To ensure long lasting blooms, use a sharp knife instead of pruners and trim more mature flowers.
Japanese Anemone
Anenome continues to grow after cutting. Start with buds and leave space in the arrangement for them to open.
Bleeding Hearts
This unique flower adds a special touch to any arrangement. For best results, cut only newly-opened flowers.
Columbine
Though not widely grown for commercial use, this abundant bloomer makes a great cut flower.
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Iris
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Rose Campion
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Peony (Of Course!)
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Shasta Daisy
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Hollyhock
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Veronica
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Russian Sage
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Lavender
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Pincushion Flower
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Salvia
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Asiatic Lily
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Dianthus
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Bellflowers (Pictured)
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Lupines
Looking upward
Flowering Trees
When planning cut flower arrangements, failure to consider tree branches is a missed opportunity. Flowering tree branches add height and depth to mixed arrangements. When used by themselves, vases of branch arrangements look like works of art. As with shrubbery, strategic clipping of branches can also help you get a jumpstart on your pruning maintenance.
Crape Myrtle
Rarely thought of as a cut flower, the long branches and large masses of flowers work similar to hydrangeas & phlox.
Dogwood
The Virginia state tree and flower should never be overlooked as a cut flower. A few cuttings can truly brighten any room.
Redbud
The unique branching adds to their value as a cut flower. Heart-shaped leaves can also be used for foliage after blooming.
Magnolia
Whether a Saucer Magnolia (pictured), star magnolia, or Southern Magnolia, they all make exceptional cut flowers.
Flowering Cherry
These Spring favorites make for great cut flowers that can be forced to bloom early indoors, once the buds have set.
Fringe Tree
This native tree, which nobody knows, can add texture contrast and stunning fragrance to any arrangement.
Don't forget about
Texture & Foliage
When making mixed bouquets, it is often the texture and foliage that make arrangements stand out. This is where your arrangements can become truly creative and unique. Because so many plants are not grown widely for commercial use, this is also where your arrangements can separate themselves from those found at many florists. As our long list of recommendations suggests, don't be afraid to try anything when adding texture & foliage!
Picture: Stems of Japanese Maple elevate this bouquet of Clematis and Anemone flowers
Japanese Maple
The foliage from this popular specimen tree will add color and texture contrast to a bouquet of flowers.
Solomon's Seal
Long stems & interesting foliage, that appears hand-painted, make this a great addition.
Sea Holly
When looking for an interesting visual effect, the color & shape of this perennial (from the thistle family) is perfect.
Hosta
The large leaves of this popular shade perennial have, in recent years, become very popular among flower arrangers.
Ferns
This seems obvious in flower arranging, but popular garden varieties add so much more than traditional florist ferns.
Heuchera
Also known as Coral Bells, this perennial has exploded in popularity as new varieties provide a variety of foliage types.
Lambs Ear
The soothing color and soft texture of this classic perennial make it a great addition. It's tall flower stalks can also used as well.
Smoke Tree
This large shrub (or small tree) has unique burgundy or chartreuse color that resembles the shape of eucalyptus.
Euphorbia
Both the flower and foliage of this unique perennial are perfect if you're looking for something a little different and "funky."
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Ornamental Grasses (Pictured)
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Ninebark
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Cherry Laurel
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Nandina
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Aucuba
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Pieris
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Plum Yew
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Ligustrum
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Red Twig Dogwood
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Evergreens (Juniper, Arborvitae, Pine, etc)
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Sedum
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Loropetalum
And finally...
Bulbs & Seasonal Plantings
To close things out, we provide a list of bulbs and seasonal plantings (annuals) that provide flowers and foliage great for making arrangements. Because annuals and bulbs are widely produced for commercial use, many on this list are obvious choices. Though obvious, we've included them as a reminder and to ensure that our list is comprehensive.
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Dusty Miller (Pictured)
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Coleus
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Geraniums
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Daffodils
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Tulips
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Allium
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Hyacinth
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Zinnias
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Sunflowers
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Marigolds
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Gerbera Daisies
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Cosmos