Summer Flowers

I really love this time of year - fresh fruit, seasonal vegetables and the flowers!  Even my discount grocery store carries a wide variety at this time of year for a few dollars a bundle.  I see this as an opportunity to bring the summer inside, filling as many vases as possible while they last.

 If I find that I don't have enough filler for the arrangement or the size of the vase, I've been known to raid my garden for leafy stocks and additional flowers. This arrangement (left) for my bathroom was a combination of flowers that cost under $20 from the local grocer and a vase I had rescued from Value Village for very little money.

I'm also lucky to have a flower shop that sells wholesale flowers by the bundle near my home.  The pre-arrange flowers tend to be quite costly but if you are willing to take a chance and build your own arrangement, I've found that I walk away with a more flowers for less money.

I have to admit that there are some flowers that I'm not partial too.  Carnations bug me to no end - mainly what is done with them - everything from being dyed weird colours or mixed with baby's breath and other in expensive filler.  The only exception I've seen where carnations work was a creation I saw the real Martha create - all one colour, all bundled together and no other flowers or greenery added.  Beautiful.

I do hate waste and many of the bundles that come from the grocery store tend to have cheap fillers such as purple statice or baby's breath.  Rather than throw these away, I like to fill small vases with these as well as flowers that may have been damaged and cut short during the journey home.  These are great for putting on the bedside table in guest rooms or to add a little colour to any corner in your home.  Happy arranging!