Spring has sprung!  Spring blooming trees and shrubs are covered with flowers. Daffodils, tulips, and other bulbs are in their full glory.  Trees are covered in bright green new leaves and perennials are pushing up through the ground after their winter rest.  It’s natural to want to bring some of that spring abundance into your interior spaces.  I’m here to today with a few tips on how to arrange spring flowers.

What do you think of when you think of spring flowers?  For me, it’s daffodils.  Most think of the traditional yellow daffodils but there are so many more to choose from.

I have, I think, 11 varieties of daffodils planted.  This gives me a succession of blooms that lasts about 3 months.  All are in the yellow, white, and peach family.  Different colors, sizes, and shapes make them interesting.

The late season double daffodils get the most compliments.  A double variety refers to the full/double center of the flower.

Something special about daffodil care is that they emit sap through their stems which can cause other flowers designed with them to have a shorter vase life.  To help with this, cut the daffodils and immediately place them by themselves in cool water for a few hours. This helps by letting most of the sap dilute in the initial container of water.

It is best to cut all flower and foliage stems at a 45 degree angle.

Doing so allows more of the stem to be able to take in water.  Cutting stems horizontally, like the flower on the left above, also can cause a flower to lie flat against the bottom of the vase and not be able to take up any water.

After daffodils I think of tulips!  They are available in almost all colors and in both solid and variegated varieties.

One of the unique characteristics about tulips is that they continue to grow in the vase. They can grow an inch a day so it is best to cut them a little short when you make an arrangement, unless you want to recut them every day.

Flowering branches are another option to bring into your home.  Forsythia, cherry, crabapple, viburnum, spirea, japonica, and dogwood all hold up well with proper hydration.

So how do you properly hydrate woody stems?

Start by cutting the stem at a 45 degree angle.

Next cut an X at the end of the stem.

This allows the stem to draw in more water.  This trick is also helpful for flowers that are heavy drinkers, such as hydrangea.

These stems make a statement and help create movement and line in an arrangement.

Don’t forget about foliage!  Many of the flowering trees and shrubs mentioned above have great foliage after they are finished blooming.  Boxwood, hosta leaves (late spring), and Solomon’s Seal are three of my other spring favorites.

Whether you snips blooms from your own yard, a friend, or buy them from a florist or grocery, bring a little spring indoors this week.