Whether I’m going to a friend’s for dinner, a baby shower, need something for my dining room table, or just want my house to look good for me, the first thing I start with is fresh flowers and then add whatever good stuff I find that day. The last thing I want it to look like is that I just have store-bought bouquets in a pre-arranged bundle from one of the local grocery stores.
But the beauty of fresh, cut flowers doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. In fact, you can easily create a beautiful bouquet right at home using a combination of a grocery store bouquet and foraged blooms. By blending the convenience and variety of a grocery store flower arrangement with the unique charm of foraged finds, you can make a beautiful bouquet of flowers that is both lovely and yet very personal. And who doesn’t want that, right?
A simple flower bouquet starts with one bundle of grocery store flowers + some foraged finds
I like small flower arrangements that are almost weed-like and very loose. I’m super casual, so uptight flower arrangements make me nervous. I like to use foraged flowers and a bouquet of greenery as accent flowers mixed with one bundle from the grocery store.
Re-purposed glass jars are a fun alternative to vases
Although I have a few favorite vases, I prefer simple, rustic pottery or re-purposed jars to a crystal vase. I think it makes a charming table. I often paint jars in one color, use them on the table, and give each of my guests a jar of flowers to take home as a sort of parting gift. You can read more about that in this post.
First step, I start with a bunch of flowers from the store and then add in some herbs like thyme along with some foraged finds like pokeweed.
For a casual look for this garden setting, I used kraft paper bags
I had fully intended to paint the jars for this post, but as I was checking out at Whole Foods, I saw paper bags neatly stacked and asked if I could buy a few. She gave me a generous stack and off I went. I used the jars as is and set them in the bags folded down a few rolls.
I lined flowers down the table on an ochre linen runner from Garnet Hill
For this small bouquet, I used one bunch of Rudbeckia and then went to the beach (which is a great place for foraging and finding good things) in search of filler flowers of different heights and other things to mix in with it to give it a loose and foraged look.
I’ve heard pokeweed can be poisonous if eaten, but I assure you no one is eating the flower arrangements. I also snipped some dried weed-like stalks for their texture and dark rust color and added a few sprigs of thyme to each jar.
Warm colors from flowers, foraged weeds & linen
The colors and type of flower seemed perfect for my Garnet Hill Relaxed-Linen tablecloths and napkins. I used the white linen tablecloth as the base and added the ochre tablecloth folded like a runner for the center of the table. The tawny port/burgundy napkins worked perfectly as well. I love GH Sintra Stoneware in white. Each piece is hand thrown, painted, and finished in Portugal. It’s durable and yet feels very hand-made.
So the next time you need a flower bouquet, go ahead and make your own. Just remember to keep it simple, casual, and rustic. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to create a beautiful and refined arrangement with inexpensive flowers
Margaret Huff says
The poke berries will stain anything. Indians used them to make dye, Poke to a farmer is like dandelions to a person who wants a pretty yard. Poke growing on a farm is a sign of bad management….like thistles or cockleburs or queen Anne’s lace.
annie diamond says
Hi Margaret! That is good to know about the staining. It was from my neighbor’s yard…and passed a away a few years ago and the yard is maintained only every so often. So that explains the weeds!