Here are our some cutting garden tips from Cindy Ollig of the Perfect Petal.
Reuse glass holiday votive candles to add color and nature to your life indoors. Fill small holders with water and cluster them in uneven numbers on bathroom counters, mantles or end tables. Clip several open blooms from your garden at about 2 inches from the bloom. Place the blooms in the votives for colorful splashes all week long.
Hedge clippings can make instant bouquets. Gather clippings from blooming or green hedge such as spirea or euonymus. Gather branches in your hand with all the cut ends down. Simply cut the stems even. (The total length is best when it is 4-5 inches higher than the top of the vase you are working with.) Now you have a full lush base for your arrangement. Complete this simple look by adding three to five cut blooms from your garden and you have a lovely romantic arrangement.
Use florist frogs (the spiky heavy metal pin flower holders) to make an elegant statement with very few flowers needed. Start with a favorite bowl or container, i.e. soap dish, candleholder, glazed saucer, seashell. Place the frog in the container and add water to cover the frog. Place one cut flower in the frog 5-10 inches tall and add up to three green leaves at the base. For movement, accent your cut flower with a tall sprig of ornamental grass or two.
Another Ikebana idea is to place one blooming branch (6-12 inches tall) coming out of the frog at an angle and place one open bloom on the frog to cover it. Florist frogs run anywhere from $3-$20 each depending on the size.
Fill medium-sized vases or household vessels with one type of flower to add verve and power to arrangements.
You don’t need preservatives in the water of your garden creations if you change the liquid every day and keep the foliage above the water line.
Cut bulbs such as tulips and narcissus will sometimes last longer if they are not mixed with other types of blooms, but you shouldn’t second-guess your creative ideas based on stems’ longevity. The beauty of the flowering bloom is that it is temporary.
