Bring the outside in and fill your home with the stunning shades and glorious fragrance of English-grown summer flowers. Let these simple arrangements inspire you.
Heaven scent
Place a watertight container in a decorated box, then arrange 10-12 stems of scented stocks to form a soft dome shape. Carefully add water. Try larkspur or scabious for different colours, shapes and scents.
High impact
Choose three similar tall, slim ceramic vases and place a stem of gladioli in each. Group the vases together on a shelf or table top, and arrange pebbles around the bases. You could also use alliums or stems of longiflorum lily.
Glass act
Half fill a globe-shaped glass vase with gravel and shells (available from aquatic centres). Arrange the stems of between five and seven alliums so that all the heads are together. Bind the stems tightly together with raffia or garden tie, then trim the stems to one length. Place in the vase, top up the container with more shells and gravel, then fill with water.
This also looks stunning with carnations or sunflowers.
Bags of style
Soak some florist’s foam and place in a waterproof container. Place the container inside a pretty straw bag. Arrange a mix of campanula and agapanthus plus a few stems of ivy in natural groups, finishing with some ivy trails. You could also use dahlias and brodiaea.
Care tips
- Unwrap your flowers and cut 3cm from the bottom of the stems with a sharp knife or scissors - this helps them to drink water.
- Add flower food (from sachets provided) to 1 litre of fresh water. The food helps the flowers to open and keeps the water clean.
- Change the water regularly to prolong the flowers’ lives. Remove all leaves that would be below the water level and always use clean containers.
This article was first published on Waitrose.com in May 2005.