Wildflowers make beautiful displays and bouquets and recently they have made a comeback in a huge way in the floristry world. If you take a glance around Britain’s top hotels, members clubs, restaurants and shops, you will see wildflowers being used to make natural displays, which make a big impact!
Wildflowers come in an array of all different colours – from subdued whites and pinks to bright reds and yellows. This means that wildflowers give you plenty of options depending on what design and atmosphere you want to create with your wildflower display.
“If you’re trying to create a calm and relaxing environment you can use cooler colours such as whites, lilacs, pinks and blues”
If you’re trying to create a calm and relaxing environment you can use cooler colours such as whites, lilacs, pinks and blues. My favourites for this type of display are cow parsley, rose campion, cornflower and scabious. For a more positive feel to your flower display, try cutting red, yellow and pink wildflowers, like poppies, corncockle and corn marigold. If there is one thing I’m obsessed with, its cutting poppies and creating a display in a white vase! Give it a try…I guarantee you’ll love it too!
Wildflowers create different textures
As well as creating atmosphere with colour, wildflowers are also perfect for adding texture to hard exterior landscapes or your interiors. A mix of different textures will add visual weight to your space, meaning in simple terms that it will be eye-catching. Adding texture also adds essential balance to your area. With textures, for example, you’re able to soften hard landscapes, create a focal point in a minimalist space or, if you’re working with a similar colour pallet, it adds additional depth, without compromising on the intended design and style.
Choose the right wildflowers to grow for your own display
Not only is it fun to make a flower display – getting to design and style your own arrangement – but when you grow the flowers to use too, this takes it to a whole different level! If you have space for a container, garden bed or even, if you’re lucky enough to have a larger space for a meadow, then growing your own wildflowers and cutting them for displays is fantastic way to be super creative and eco-friendly!
The best wildflower species for cutting
For making your own flower display, it’s important to choose the best species to grow, as not all flowers do well after being cut. For long-lasting arrangements, its therefore really important to get the species right! To help you out, I’ve made a list of my top wildflowers to grow for making your own flower display;
- Bishops Flower
- Blue Eryngo
- Fairy Toadflax
- Garden Cosmos
- Larkspur
- Love in a Mist
- Michaelmas Daisy
- Purpletop Vervain
- Zinnia Eligans
- Sulphur Cosmos
- Babys Breath
- Cornflower
- Scabious
- Rose Campion
- Wild Carrot
These species will not only last-longer but they will bring life and texture to your space. This is perfect for creating the right vibe for your home, al fresco dining area or work environment.
Think about your flower colours
Something you may also want to consider is what colours you’re keen to use in your display. Obviously, this is important for matching your overall design theme and it’s something to consider when buying your wildflower seed.
If you’re focusing mainly on aesthetics for your flower display, then there are two options;
- Matching your current colour palette with similar colours
- Using high contrast of complementary colours such as red vs green, orange vs blue, yellow vs purple
However, if you’re looking to create atmosphere or a certain type of mood, then I’d definitely suggest using colours which help generate specific emotions. Take a quick look at the following which shows which colour combinations help to create different feelings:
Happiness
- blue
- red
- purple
- yellow
- pink
- white
Tranquil
- purple
- white
- pink
- blue
- green
Creative
- yellow
- orange
- blue
- white
- pink
- purple
Take some time to really think about what you’re trying to create with your flower display before selecting the wildflower seed mix to grow. This means that when you go to buy your mix, you know which mix of colours you would like.
Six top tips for making your flower display
Although there is no right and wrong design for your flower arrangement, we’ve got in touch with in-demand, London-based florist Jo Power for her top six tips for making your own flower display. Working in the best hotels, retailers and events in London, Jo’s work sets the tone for displays across the capital, so enjoy these helpful hints from one of the best!
"When creating your flower display, must ultimate piece of advice is just to give it a go! Start slowly and build up your arrangement with difference heights, textures and colours!"
Tip 1: Assess your space
The first step is to really think about your space – taking a good look at the size and shape of the area. If there is plenty of height, then taller stems may look better. Or if the space is narrow would a few stems in bud vases suit the area better than one large arrangement? These are the type of questions which are important to ask yourself when assessing the space that you have for your display.
Tip 2: Think about your flower container
Checking you have the right container/s for the job, is super important to making the display look proportional. If you’re out shopping think about the size you’re looking for…tall, short, wide, narrow etc. Obviously, wide containers take a lot of flowers and would look great for a large arrangement, but if you’re looking to create a set, you may want to opt for smaller containers of different sizes to give you more options.
Tip 3: Use foliage
One of my most important tips is to use foliage! There are so many different types of greenery to use in your flower display, all of which provides texture and a good base for creating an arrangement. You can add height, depth and colour, giving your arrangement that extra something.
Tip 4: Strip the stem
One of my more technical tips is to strip the bottom of the stems of excess leaves that would end up in the water. This will keep the water fresher for longer. I mean no one likes having to change the water in their containers every day! So don’t skip this step and you’ll be all set.
Tip 5: Choose a variety of shapes
Add some personality, style and flair to your flower display by choosing a variety of shapes, colours and textures when it comes to picking your flowers. That’s why wildflowers are so great for displays, they provide amazing variation and different options. Mixing a fluffy stem of nigella, an elegant cosmos and a tall bright larkspur will create visual interest and bring contrast.
Tip 6: Cut & hydrate
My final tip is another technical one but you will thank me when your flower display lasts that bit longer! I would always suggest putting your cut stems straight into water. This is because stems start to form an airlock as soon as they are picked, so the sooner they are drinking the better!