Zinnia Bouquet for Autumn Tutorial

 

I love arranging flowers!  My sweet friend, Edna, recently stopped by with a gift of zinnias.  She brought such a pretty color combination; three purple, three orange and one red.  Perfect for a quick Zinnia Bouquet!  My one tiny complaint, though, Edna cut the stems awfully short.  I went in search of a small vase.
 

 

This one caught my eye as it is one of my favorites!  I love the soft green with just a bit of crackle.  



The shape can be a bit of a challenge.  In order to keep the arrangement from flopping to the outside, I added tape.  Today I realized I am completely out of narrow floral tape.  Gaaah!  The tape you see is regular clear tape for wrapping gifts.  It is awfully wide, but I think I can hide it.  Notice I've divided the vase somewhat equally into nine spaces.  This will not only give the bouquet some structure and hold it more upright, it will also help me keep it balanced.

When searching for greenery, I first cruise my garden looking for anything that needs to be pruned.  There is an American Holly at the corner of our house that can always use a good trim!  ;-)  Four stems are cut from the American Holly and placed in alternating slots around the edge, crossing the stems in the center of the vase.

Next, the Gooseberry bush gets snipped a bit and four stems are spaced equal distance apart around the edge of my vase, again crossing in the center.

Notice, I keep making laps around the outside of the vase, placing like stems equal distance apart, crossing in the center.  Can you see a grid forming?  Between the tape and the crossed woody stems, I've built a nice base for the zinnias.

The purple and orange zinnias alternate around the outside and the red zinnia is upright in the center.  I also added a few sprigs of sage for just a touch of silver.  Not a single bit of tape can be seen!  Whew!  I wasn't sure that was going to work!

 

It's time to bring my arrangement inside our old rock farmhouse!



The proportions would be more to my liking if the zinnias were just a bit taller, but it certainly brightens my little sofa table!  What pretty colors!  First, I added a couple of pears and a small stone bird.  

 Here's the complete vignette!

 

 Please keep in mind you could create a very similar bouquet using purchased carnations!  I'm incredibly blessed to have a sweet friend like Edna who was so generous with her zinnias!

If you have any questions on the basics of building this floral arrangement, please let me know!

 

 Have a beautiful day!

;-)  -Marci