Display tips for short-stemmed flowers

When you order flowers from your local florist, it’s fairly likely that you will receive a bouquet of long-stemmed flowers or at least flowers with reasonably long stems. This means that they are fairly easily to display in most standard vases that you’ve got stashed away in one of your closets at home. That said, there are times when some of the flowers you order or pick from the garden don’t have extremely long stems and they can be challenging to display in the right way.

Fortunately, there are a number of fantastic tricks that anyone can use to make even the shortest stems look fantastic! Firstly, look for a small vase. The size of the vase will depend on the length of the stems. The flowers should not tower too high above the vase or else the arrangement will be quite obviously top heavy. Similarly, you should not use a tall vase or the flowers will barely make an appearance and will appear as if they are being swallowed up. If the vase is a solid colour (not transparent), you can fill the base of the vase with stones, pebbles or another similar heavy vase filler. Then add water and place your flowers in the vase. Instead of resting on the bottom of the vase, they will rest on top of the fillers and your guests will be none the wiser!

Alternatively, you can use a coffee mug (preferably a cappuccino style mug and matching saucer). Place your stems at an angle so that they create a rounded, dome-like appearance. Make sure that you have enough flowers for this arrangement and don’t leave any large gaps in between. That said, you should also avoid any temptation to squeeze extra flowers in between since this will only damage and bruise the delicate petals.

If you’re not quite willing to sacrifice a mug, you could use something as simple as a small glass jar or tin can. In both cases, you might like to cover the vase to hide its flaws. You can do so using paint, wrapping paper, or even fabric. When using paper, you might like to use more than one sheet so that your bouquet looks like a gift (much in the same way potted plants are presented as gifts). Remember to secure the fabric or paper using an elastic band or string and hide the string or elastic with a beautiful ribbon.

You could even get creative and use a salt or pepper shaker or a shot glass for those really short stems if you like. The key is to look around your home for anything that will hold water and something that suits the length of the stems.