Once you have decided on a vase for your beautiful display, take it one step further and consider adding a finishing touch. Why not add ribbon to your bouquet for a final flourish? Tie gold or silver ribbon around the trunk of the vase for a regal look.
how to arrange flowers in a vase
Our easy flower arranging guide shows you how to create a gorgeous floral arrangement in a vase, including how to prepare your stems and top tips for arranging your flowers.
All of our flower bouquets are delivered beautifully arranged – just trim the stems and place in a vase with some fresh water and flower food.
What Equipment Will I Need?
- A Clean Vase – Disinfected and half full with fresh, room temperature water
- Sharp Scissors – The sharper the better!
- Knife – For removing rose thorns
- Flower Food – So your flowers will last longer
If you don’t have any blooms to get started, you can order some fresh flowers in a flash by visiting our range for next day delivery.
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR STEMS
Tips and Ideas for Arranging your Flowers
Be inspired by your vase! Let the vase shape inspire your arrangement. In our example we use a round medium height vase, this is best suited to round arrangements, but have a go at improvising according to the vase shape.
Flying Flowers Pro tip “If you have a small round vase, then the ideal floral arrangement would be more compact, for longer vases use the length of the stems, embrace the shape of your vase, don’t fight it.”
Where to Cut Your Flowers
Be careful to cut away from notches (nodules or nodes) in the stem. For even better results cut them at an angle, this will help them drink more water so you can enjoy them for longer.
Flying Flowers Pro tip “Keep the stem you’ve just cut – it’ll be a useful guide for cutting the rest of your bouquet”
Cut and Place into the Vase
Don’t let flowers dry out – make your flowers last longer by cutting each stem as you are about to place it into the vase. Roses are especially prone to sealing soon after they’ve been cut.
Criss-Cross Your Stems
Place the flowers at a slight angle in the vase, using a criss-cross method as you place in more stems, this creates a more professional finish and holds the arrangement in place
More Flower Arranging Inspiration
How To Make A Wreath
We’ve created an easy step-by-step wreath tutorial for beginners through to experts, so you can add joy to your door whatever your crafting experience.
How To Make A Flower Cloud
Take your flower arranging to the next level with our step-by-step guide to making a flower cloud.
How To Preserve Your Flowers
The joy doesn’t have to stop when your flower bouquet isn’t looking as fresh. Hone your flower arranging skills and give a second life to your bouquet.
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Inspired? View our range of blooms that can arrive on your doorstep tomorrow so you can create your own beautiful flower arrangement.
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Arrange Your Flowers In the Vase Using Layers
For best results, gradually build up your arrangement creating layers of flowers. This technique is perfect for beginners, as it will make arranging them much easier.
- Greenery first – Anything without a typical flower at its head use these to build as a base first, this will give you a base to build from
- Then smaller flower heads or more subtle colours – These are your ‘filler stems’, they will add shape to the arrangement
- Colourful, large or most impressive flowers last – These ‘focus stems’ form the show stopping element to your arrangement, they may be the brightest, largest or simply the most stunning flowers that you have.
Use a Centrepiece Flower
This does not need to be the biggest or brightest flower, but the one which will show off the rest of your arrangement the best.
Flying Flowers Pro tip “Beginners often use a large headed closed lily as the central focus flower. When the lily opens it can cover and detract from the arrangement. Take this into consideration when selecting your centrepiece flower – we suggest you use the highest quality flower instead.”
Odd Numbers Look Better
Especially in a round arrangement as they add balance. Don’t count your centrepiece flower though; for example the centrepiece rose can be surrounded by 3 other roses, this is perfect!
Arrange Colours and Flower Types Evenly
Spread colours and flower types evenly, so if you have lots of roses and lilies, try to make sure that all the roses are not on one side.
Flying Flowers tip “You can use your hand as a guide to create a balanced arrangement of colours and flower types. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right first time, you may need to move your flowers around to find the perfect combination.”
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Stripping leaves
Carefully strip any leaves or foliage from each stem that fall below the waterline, this helps prevent bacteria in your vase and your flowers will look fresher for longer.
If You Have Roses….
Please remove leaves and thorns with extra care, they can be sharp! Roses naturally grow hardy outer petals, called guard petals, to protect the delicate inner petals during delivery. If they look slightly discoloured, just gently pull them away from your rose head, to make your roses look even more beautiful.
The ‘Rule of Thirds’
Cut your stems according the height of your vase, so that your arrangement extends 1/3 or 2/3 the total height of the vase. So if the vase is 25cm (10 inches) then the overall arrangement should be about 75cm (30 inches).
What do red roses mean?
Few flowers are more closely associated with love, romance and passion than red roses, a favourite with lovers throughout history. But if you dig a little deeper, there’s a lot more to this beautiful flower.
Deep red colours are said to suggest commitment and symbolise a stronger bond than a lighter red bloom, while a pale red rose represents desire and passion.
Roses have significance around the world too. In the ancient Egyptian era, roses were offered to the gods and even featured in funeral rituals. The number of roses gifted can also affect the overall meaning. In Vietnam, a single red rose can represent your unwavering love. But in Brazil, you would need to gift 12 roses to mean the same thing. In Korea, you may receive 20 red roses when you turn 20 years old.
Typically, red roses are gifted on Valentine’s Day as the perfect romantic bouquet, thanks to their connotations of love and passion. A grand gesture of classic red roses is sure to make your loved one’s day.
This also means that red roses are a popular choice of wedding flowers and a thoughtful way to congratulate the bride and groom, or mark an extra special wedding anniversary.
Types of red rose
There are many different varieties of red roses to choose from, either to make an extravagant bouquet display, or to add a hint of romance to your cottage garden.
Crimson Glory
These red roses are climbers, meaning they look spectacular grown over trellis works or garden fences. The deep red colour exudes romance and passion and can elevate any garden to a magical fairyland.
Rhodos
Rhodos roses have bigger leaves than traditional roses, with a durable thornless stem. This makes them fantastic in bouquets, as they are tall and long-lasting.
Explorer
A classic red rose variety, the Explorer has a deep red velvety colour and beautiful, large petals. These roses can elevate a simple bouquet to something quite luxurious.
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The history of the red rose
The history of red roses can be traced all the way back to Ancient Greece. Legend has it that the first red rose grew when Aphrodite found her lover, Adonis, mortally injured by a wild boar. The flower bloomed from the ground where her tears mixed with his blood. In Roman mythology, it was believed that Venus saw roses bloom when she fell on a thorn bush on the way to warn her lover of a threat to his life.
Roses are significant to the history of England too, thanks to the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century, when the red rose of the House of Lancaster, led by Henry Tudor, went to battle with the white rose of the House of Lancaster and King Richard III.
After 30 years of feuding, a victorious Henry VII took the throne, and it’s believed that the two houses’ roses were later merged to symbolise the Rose of England. Also known as the Tudor Rose, it features a white centre with red petals surrounding it. This symbolises the end of conflict and the amalgamation of the two houses.
How to care for red roses
If you’re lucky enough to have been gifted a stunning bouquet of red roses, remember that they typically last seven to 14 days. Here’s how to properly care for them:
- Find a suitable vase for your red roses and clean it out with soapy water to remove any bacteria. This will help keep the roses fresh for longer.
- Trim the end of the stem by a few centimetres at a diagonal angle and take off any leaves that drop below the water line.
- Fill the vase with lukewarm water for the roses to drink. Add flower food, specially designed for your type of rose, to help them really flourish.
- You should store your bouquet out of direct sunlight, away from any radiators or warm areas of the house.
Using red roses to decorate
The power of a simple red rose is extraordinary. A single red rose on a side table is elegant and chic, and a red rose bouquet on a dining room table sets the tone for an extravagant meal. Choose a red rose displayed in a glass vase for your table centrepiece for weddings and other romantic functions.
Roses exude so much romance, that even just a petal evokes love, passion, and desire. Red rose petals on a hotel room bed can elevate the room from simplistic to luxurious – it’s no wonder that people have taken to placing petals in their baths for a truly indulgent experience. Rose petals can also form part of your wedding or special occasion centrepieces. Consider scattering or lining petals down the centre of a long table for a magical look.
Pairing red roses with ivory or white and gold is popular for weddings. Red roses also look lovely with spring green and/or soft shades of pink to emphasise their romantic qualities.
Crafting a red rose bouquet
When crafting your red rose bouquet, consider whether you wish to have a bouquet full of just roses, or want to include other flowers and colours too. Here are five tips we suggest when building an enchanting red rose bouquet:
Decide on the arrangement
If you are creating a bouquet of just roses, start with a single red rose at the centre and work your way outwards – arranging them in a circular pattern. Make sure there’s equal space between the flower heads.
Consider how many
The number of red roses you wish to include depends on the size of the bouquet you are creating. A small wedding rose bouquet has eight to 12 stems, a medium size has between 18 and 20, and a large bouquet can have 21 to 25 stems.
Add foliage
While a selection of red roses can look beautiful by themselves, adding other textures into the mix can add depth to the bouquet. Consider adding green foliage to help the rose heads really stand out.
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