Unique Floral Containers for Temporary Arrangements | Family Economics

By Cathe

Do you grow flowers around your home? Do you purchase non-occasion ones at the florist? I’m not much of a gardener, although I do have a few hydrangea bushes which I love and can hardly wait for them to bloom so I can snag a few heads to bring indoors. Occasionally I will tuck a beautiful bouquet of mixed blooms or roses into my cart when shopping at the grocery store.

There’s just something about springtime when the windows are all finally open with the sounds of birds in the air and lovely floral arrangements about the house. I also pick up simple flowering ground cover plants to place around my porch in containers to liven up the entry way.

I have fun going about my home looking for containers to use for my arrangements. The more unusual, the better. The containers don’t need to be leak proof. If the size is right, you can tuck a drinking glass inside to hold the flowers’ water. In a pinch you can even fill the bottom of a Ziploc® Brand freezer bag with water, place the stems of the flowers down inside, rubber band around the top of the bag and place into the container.

However you water your flowers, be certain to replace the water daily. If using ground cover and small outdoor plants that are planted in dirt, cut a section of a plastic trash bag to line your shallow container and protect it from moisture.

When cutting flowers for your container, bring the container to the edge of a table or counter surface. Hold your bunch of flowers next to the container with the blooms’ bases level with the top of the container to get a visual idea of where to trim the bottom of the stems.

Here are some fun ideas for flower containers:

Stemmed flowers:
•    Coffee tins, new or old.
•    Tennis ball tin
•    Vintage kitchen canister
•    Small tote to hang from a hook
•    Thermos
•    Glass soda or wine bottle
•    Pencil cup
•    Food can with interesting label graphics
•    Food can with label removed
•    Vintage tobacco can
•    Favorite coffee cup
•    A child’s boot
•    Vintage oil can

Flowering ground cover:
•    Tool box or wooden tool trug
•    Cigar box
•    Vintage red wagon
•    Toy truck beds
•    Biscuit or cookie tin
•    Wooden crate
•    Deep serving tray
•    Drawer

What are some other temporary floral containers you can think of?