We often say that in our Central Valley of California, we don’t get to experience fall to its fullest. Summer lingers, and before we know it, winter is here. One way to truly enjoy our fall and make those few weeks extra special is by having a gorgeous fall flower arrangement in your home.
Today, Liza from The Flower Farm is sharing her recipe for a simple yet lovely fall flower arrangement, plus tips for keeping your flowers fresh and beautiful! Enjoy!
Right now The Flower Farm is in full bloom with some of my favorite fall flowers. We have rows and rows of beautiful sunflowers, zinnias, gladiolus, celosia, dahlias and snapdragons! They’re all blooming and being picked, arranged and delivered everyday! It’s the time of year when things are starting to get calmer on the farm because the warm-weather loving flowers slow down as the days get shorter and night-time temperatures drop. This is also the time of year when I stop and remind myself to savor every flower we pick, because within a few weeks, they’ll all be gone.
Here’s my “recipe” for a simple flower arrangement.
Step 1: Choose three or four of the biggest sunflowers. These will make your base. Arrange them in your hand, and stagger their placement to give the arrangement its shape. Decide how tall you want the arrangement to be, cut the stems and put them in your vase. They might not stay exactly where you want them to, but they will as you start to add more flowers.
Step 2: Choose some smaller sunflowers, and fill in the bigger holes.
Step 3: Add colorful zinnias to fill in the smaller holes, turning the vase as you go, making sure the arrangement fills in evenly.
It’s important to have a variety of flowers in different sizes, colors and stages of bloom. While big open sunflowers make an impact at first, their petals will fall off the soonest. Including some barely open sunflowers will create more interest, and you’ll be able to watch the flowers open up and change from day to day.
At The Flower Farm, we only use the freshest flowers and we handle them all carefully to make sure they last as long as possible after being picked. We give them an extra boost by mixing some “flower food” into their water. But there’s still a lot you can do to help keep them fresh at home.
- The flowers are thirsty, so check the vase everyday to make sure they don’t run out of water. If they do run out of water, don’t throw them away…there’s still hope for them! Trim the ends, and put them in fresh water. Most of the flowers should perk back up.
- When the water starts to look a little murky, dump it out, rinse the vase and refill it with cool, fresh water.
- Trimming the ends with a sharp pair of scissors or pruners every few days will help the flowers take up more water, and stay fresher longer.
- Keep the flowers out of direct sun, and away from any fans or places where air will blow directly on them.
- As the arrangement starts to wilt, you may want to pull out the flowers that still look good, cut them down, and put them in a smaller vase to create a new arrangement with some of the longer-lasting flowers.
Using these basic tips, you can make the most out of your fresh flowers!
Many thanks to Liza of The Flower Farm for sharing her secrets with us! Want more tips? Check out our Cut Flower Arranging Tips post!
About our Contributor: Liza Teixeira started The Flower Farm in 2013, which grows fresh flowers for special events and deliveries in Kings and Tulare counties. The flowers are picked fresh every morning, and delivered to customers the same day. Learn more about The Flower Farm in the Fall issue of Enjoy Magazine.
To place an order, call or text 559-816-5979.
Facebook: HanfordFlowerFarm
Instagram: @HanfordFlowerFarm
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