SUMMER FLOWER ARRANGING MADE EASY

NO ONE WILL GUESS THESE CAME FROM THE SUPERMARKET!

Nothing says summer more than fresh flower arrangements in pretty pastel colors. And there’s no prettier summer flower than DAHLIAS! In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to take dahlias that are abundant at farmer’s markets and in the supermarket all through the summer and turn them into a few easy, inspiring arrangements.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT DAHLIAS

Dahlias are native to Mexico and South America, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The best part about dahlias is that they’re readily available at supermarkets from summer into the fall season, and they come in a gorgeous array of colors. They also come in a variety of shapes, which make them great candidates for a mixed arrangement, with varying textures.

There are hundreds of varieties of dahlias, which fall into a few different categories such as Decorative, Pom Pom, Cactus, Peony and Waterlily types. The most common varieties you’ll see at the supermarket are Decorative, Pom Pom and Cactus types.

Here’s a wonderful book about Dahlias and their history, called “Dahlias: Beautiful Varieties for Home & Garden”. I also have more of my Favorite Flower Books available in the HSW Online Shop here.

EDITORIAL PHOTO SHOOT DAHLIAS

Dahlias have always one of my favorite flowers to style on photo shoots. I used them in the feature story below that I produced and styled in the Dallas home of interior designer Emily Larkin, photographed by Nathan Schroder. I used two varieties of peach-y pink dahlias, accented by wispy plumosa fern sprigs in a modern white vase.

FLOWER INSIDER TIP

Dahlias require one special trick when you get them home. You need to condition the stems using the hot water treatment. When you get the flowers home, make a fresh angled 45-degree cut at the end of the stem and place them in about 3 inches of very hot (not boiling) water for at least 1 hour. Doing this allows the cut flowers to last for four to six days.

DAHLIAS STYLED FOUR WAYS

Below are the four different ways I styled these supermarket flowers, in summery colors – deep pink, light pink, white and light purple. And the best part is that the dahlias only cost $4.99 per bunch.

#1: THE POWER OF ONE FLOWER

The easiest way to simply style different flowers is using my concept call “The Power of One Flower”. I talk more about that in my “Styling Secrets” Guide – free to all subscribers. The concept is pretty straightforward: use one kind of dahlia in each vase, with no filler or other flowers. Let the flowers speak for themselves.

The grouping below features showy light purple dahlias in a shorter vase, and the burgundy-pink pom-pom dahlias in a taller modern vase.

FLOWER STYLING TIP:

Use a modern shaped vase with more traditional flowers, to make a simple “Power of One Flower” arrangement feel fresh.

#2: DAHLIA SIMPLICITY

Who says you can’t repurpose beautiful tumblers as flower vases? Here, I made a little still life with one bunch of pink dahlias arranged in a gold-rimmed glass tumbler. One of the reasons I chose a glass vessel is because the stems of these pink dahlias are a rich, burgundy hue and I like how the stem color offsets the flowers. A couple of pretty glass tumbler options here and here.

FLOWER STYLING TIP:

If the flower stems are a contrasting color, use a glass vase to make them part of the “flower story”.

#3: MONOCHROME DAHLIAS

The premise behind this “Power of One Flower” dahlia arrangement is simple: I styled one bunch of pom pom white dahlias in my favorite white leaf vase, and styled it with other similar white vases and artwork on the table in my entry. Groupings of items in the same color is a way to make a small bunch of flowers look more “special”. You can read more about my “White Collections” in this post.

FLOWER STYLING TIP:

To make white flowers not look wedding-ish, don’t add “bridal” type filler flowers such as baby’s breath. A one-of-a-kind looking vase such as the leaf vase also makes the dahlias look more everyday-special, not “bridal” special.

#4: COUNTRY STYLE DAHLIA ARRANGEMENT

So many people find mixed arrangements to be very intimidating, so I’m going to make it easy for you to create a “Country Style” dahlia arrangement. I call this arrangement “Dahlias & A Few Friends”.

I started with a country style white pitcher (no modern vases for this arrangement – we want this to look like you just went out into your garden and picked the flowers).

The images below show the different flowers I used to make the “Dahlias & Friends” arrangement, and all the flowers came from the supermarket.

I started with the dahlias, and for this arrangement I used the pink and purple colors. Next, I added a few sprigs of cut lavender (#2), which was only $3.99 a bunch at Trader Joe’s. You could also substitute another spiky purple flower such as veronica or salvia. I added a smaller flowering miniature pale pink dianthus (#3), which was $3.99 a bunch. And finally, for structure, I added a few dark leafy greens (#4) at $2.99 a bunch. You could substitute any smaller green stems (or even stems of greenery from your back yard).

FLOWER STYLING TIP:

To make a mixed arrangement look natural, don’t be afraid to insert a few flowers (or greenery) here and there from your own garden. Free foraging is the best!

SHOP MY FAVORITE VASES

Click on the images below to take you to the vases featured in this post. And be sure to check out my other favorite Flower Vases and Flower Styling Tools in the HSW Online Shop.