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You have a handful of flowers and no time for complicated arrangements. Never fear -- here are 11 ways to get gorgeous results in five minutes or less.




Bright and Elegant


Elevate a handful of single variety flowers, such as these ruffly poppies, with a proper collar of hosta leaves.

--Cut the hosta stems long so you can play with the width of the collar depending on the size of the flowers.
--Arrange hostas along the rim of the arrangement.











Think Inside the Vase

--Twist a small palm frond or banana leaf into a tall cylinder vase as a backdrop for a delicate white orchid branch.
--Float a single blossom at the bottom of the vase and display.











Easier Than It Looks

This lush and romantic bouquet might look tough to make, but it's really quite simple.

--Choose a trumpet-shape vase so the stems casually fall at graceful angles.
--Start with a few geranium leaves to create a base to hold the flowers.
--Cut large-scale blossoms, such as peonies or roses, at various heights -- from the vase lip up to about 4 inches taller than the vase.
--Accent with a few wisps of trailing vine.







Relaxed Arrangement


Lavender's scent is well known for its relaxing powers, making this the perfect arrangement for a bedside table or guest room.

--Fill a vase with ruffled scented geranium leaves.
--Slip stems of sweet-smelling lavender in between the leaves.








Cluster for Impact

--Cut the stems of textured flowers, leaving an inch or so attached to the head of the flower.
--Add an inch of water to a large cylinder vase (or a large trifle bowl from your kitchen) and build up a mound of stones in the vase.
--Cover it with the flowers, nestling the stems in between the stones.









Lush Standouts

With its big blossom heads, hydrangea is a flower arranger's dream -- lots of bang for the stem. They're pretty all on their own, but try these color combos, too.

--Add bachelor buttons to enhance purple blooms. --Put a blush on white hydrangeas with pink spray roses.





Target Practice

Hit the mark with this exuberant display of zinnias.

--Gather blooms of one color in your hand to form a pleasing mound; add a single contrasting color bloom to the center.
--Secure with a rubber band and place in a vase.
--Feed in blooms of another color to form an outer ring and fill the vase.
--Place a bit of greenery, such as bleeding heart foliage, around the outer edge for added contrast







Free Falling

--Start with a ready-made mixed bunch of flowers and a wide cylinder vase or glass bowl.
--Choose one or two stems to stand tall but not taller than the vase.
--Cut the rest of the stems short and float the blooms in a small amount of water in the bottom of the vase.








Just One, Please

There's virtually no arranging to do when you clip a few stems from the yard and place them in a collection of bottles or glasses.


--To create a pleasing skyline, vary container height and stem length.
--Here, a small coleus leaf in a tiny bottle is the lowest element in the arrangement, which builds in height with fuchsia, helleborus leaf, bleeding heart foliage, Queen Anne's lace, and tall fern.





Grocery Bouquet Know-How

Pump up the impact of a mixed bouquet purchased at the grocery store.

--Cut the stems really short and arrange them in a low, medium-wide vase.
--Group flowers of the same color into clusters, rather than evenly distributing all the different varieties, to create little focal points where the eye can rest.






One-Blossom Stunner


Create this high-style display almost instantly with a pretty glass and a single bloom.


--An ice cream dish, a champagne bowl, or a martini glass all make attractive vessels for floating a showy dahlia.
--A bit of fiveleaf akebia vine gives the display an organic quality.
--Try any handy (nonpoisonous!) garden vine, such as wisteria or trumpet vine.

Posted in Art , Home And Living