Arrange flowers like a pro

 1. The best-looking flowers have had plenty to drink. Before you even think of putting your newly cut stems in a vase, get them into a bucket of fresh, clean water and let them soak it up in a cool place for a couple of hours (preferably overnight). This process – known as conditioning – ensures your flowers will look their best and last as long as possible. It is essential before you start creating any arrangement. Ideally, condition flowers the moment you get them home. The blooms pictured opposite were left in water overnight and look all the better for it. If your skin is sensitive, wear gloves, especially when handling euphorbia, monkshood or foxgloves, which can all cause irritation.

 Place your blooms on a flat surface or plastic sheet then remove all foliage, leaves, tendrils or thorns from the lower two-thirds of each stem

2. Make sure all buckets you use are clean; dirty buckets will sully the water and make the flowers droopy. Prep as many buckets as you need with cold, clean water mixed with flower food (if there is none attached to the bunches you have bought, add a bit of sugar to the water to give it a pep).    

Trim the stems with sharp scissors or secateurs

3. Place your blooms on a flat surface or plastic sheet then remove all foliage, leaves, tendrils or thorns from the lower two-thirds of each stem. Any foliage that is below the waterline of your vase will rot and cause bacteria to form, which will make the flowers wilt quicker.  

 4. Trim the stems with sharp scissors or secateurs. Cut at an angle so the stem can take up as much water as possible – with horizontal cuts the stem sits flush with the bottom of the bucket, inhibiting the flower’s drinking ability.

5. Place the stems in the buckets of cold, clean water (deep enough to submerge half of the stem) and leave somewhere cool for at least a couple of hours (or overnight) to take on water before you start to work with them.

 6. Once the flowers have had their time in the bucket and you are ready to arrange them, recut the stems to the required length for your arrangement.

Your essential kit for conditioning flowers and creating displays. 

• Sturdy scissors
• Buckets for your blooms
• Gardening gloves
• Heavy-duty secateurs or loppers
• Watering can to top up your
• vases and vessels without disrupting
• The arrangement
• Plastic sheet or bin liners

1. Gather your bottles, jam jars and bud vases then fill them three-quarters of the way up with cold water. Start by adding a sprig or two of foliage to each vessel, varying the height and type.

Gather your bottles, jam jars and bud vases then fill them three-quarters of the way up with cold water

Add the tallest flowers first. These will give a lightness to the arrangement, so keep the length where possible

2. Add the tallest flowers first. These will give a lightness to the arrangement, so keep the length where possible (even if it initially looks absurd). Next add the big-headed flowers such as roses and hellebores. Keep some tall and cut some really short so the heads just peep out of the vessel.

3. Now add the dainty, wispier flowers to soften the overall look. Slot them in between the big-headed blooms to break them up.

4. To finish, add some playful flourishes to stop the arrangement from looking too formal. I used twisty sweetpea tendrils to give a relaxed feel to the assortment.  

To finish, add some playful flourishes to stop the arrangement from looking too formal

For the display below I used the following flowers. You can find these in most flower shops, but feel free to select your own favourite blooms in the quantities you require.

• 4 sprigs of eucalyptus H 4 sprigs of hebe 
• 5 sprigs of olive H 4 sprigs of rosemary 
• 3 stems of astrantia 
• 2 stems of daffodils 
• 2 stems of hellebores 
• 4 stems of miranda roses (by rose breeder David Austin) 
• 4 stems of icelandic poppies 
• 4 sprigs of prunus blossom 
• 3 stems of sweetpea flowers and tendrils 
• A selection of clean bottles, jam jars, bud vases and small pots, old or new – as long as they can hold water they will do the job  

1. Begin by adding the foliage piece by piece, crisscrossing the stems in the water. Turn the vase as you add so that there is an even distribution. You want to create a stable framework using the foliage stems, so that the flowers (which, let’s not forget, are the stars of the show) will have a cosy nest to settle into.  

Begin by adding the foliage piece by piece, crisscrossing the stems in the water. Turn the vase as you add so that there is an even distribution

Now add the big-headed flowers, grouping them in twos and threes so that they look as they would growing in a garden, as I have done here with the cloni ranunculus

To finish, add some playful flourishes to stop the arrangement looking too formal

2. Once almost all the foliage is in, add pockets of the filler flowers. Here I have used lisianthus and lilac. These break up the density of the foliage and will act as a pretty backdrop against which the big-headed flowers can sing.

3. Now add the big-headed flowers, grouping them in twos and threes so that they look as they would growing in a garden, as I have done here with the cloni ranunculus. If this arrangement is for your bedside table, you will want to be able to see flowers from above as well as around the sides. 

4. To finish, add some playful flourishes to stop the arrangement looking too formal. I used dancing butterfly ranunculus and sweetpea tendrils to add volume while softening the overall look.

• 3 sprigs of eucalyptus 
• 2 sprigs of hebe H 3 sprigs of olive 
• 3-4 sprigs of rosemary H 3 sprigs of eucalyptus 
• 4 sprigs of variegated pittosporum 
• 4 stems of butterfly ranunculus 
• 2 stems of caramel antike roses 
• 4 stems of duchesse de nemours peonies 
• 3 stems of cloni ranunculus 
• 4 stems of lisianthus 
• 4 stems of stocks 
• 4 stems of sweetpea flowers and tendrils 
• 3 stems of white lilac 
• Small vase (I’ve used a cut-glass footed vase as I love the grandeur it gives to the arrangement)

1. Bunch the flowers together in your hand (there is no need for this to be a pretty sight). Roughly arrange how you would like them to fall in the vase. Think about how they would grow in a garden, so vary heights and directions, twisting some outwards and pulling other stems lower.

Bunch the flowers together in your hand (there is no need for this to be a pretty sight)

With the blooms still in your hand, measure against the jug. You want some of the flower heads to nestle against the jug lip

To finish, place flowers in vase and – ta-dah! – a beautiful display at lightning speed

2. With the blooms still in your hand, measure against the jug. You want some of the flower heads to nestle against the jug lip, and some to reach up higher to give interest. Trim the stems accordingly.

 3. To finish, place flowers in vase and – ta-dah! – a beautiful display at lightning speed.

‘I feel particularly strongly that a house isn’t a home without flowers in the kitchen,’ says Rowan Blossom

• Stick to one type of flower, preferably in a single colour – and use whatever is in season. I used Italian anemones here. This is a very simple arrangement, so make sure you have plenty of stems; you want it to feel lavish and abundant. It depends on the size of your jug and the type of flower, but I would suggest anywhere between 20 and 50 stems for this display. 
• A pretty jug – ceramic, porcelain or earthenware (avoid glass if possible, as I find having the stems on display takes away from the blooms in an arrangement this simple – you want the flowers to punch out of the vessel).

• 2 sprigs of beech
• 3 sprigs of British eucalyptus
• 3 sprigs of dried grass
• 2 sprigs of pistache
• 2 sprigs of quince blossom
• 3 sprigs of spirea
• 3 sprigs of thlaspi
• 2 stems of winter honeysuckle
• 3 sprigs of daucus
• 5 stems of delphinium
• 1 stem of larkspur
• 2 stems of exochorda (also known as magical springtime)
• 2 stems of genista
• 2 stems of lisianthus
• 3 stems of moluccella
• 2 stems of pink tuberose
• 5 stems of quicksand roses
• 1 stem of sea lavender
• 5 stems of snapdragons
• A large pickle jar (or a big old water jug will also work)

I used the above flowers for my arrangement but you can swap them for ones that work better with your colour scheme.