Flowers

-Arranging flowers is easier than you think. Here's how to create a perfect bouquet of cut flowers . Choose a container that will complement your bouquet with its size, shape, and color. A flared opening allows stems to lean naturally. Aim for bouquet of 1 to 1-1/2 times the height of the vase. For a mixed bouquet, gather 5 varieties of flower and 2 types of leaves. Fill your plain vase with room temperature water. Visualize the arrangement with any circle. Now, divide the

the garden. The star of your bouquet is the largest most dominant flower . Shapely lilies like this allow smaller secondary flowers to have supporting roles and fit in nicely. For color, variety, and interest, add the supporting cast. Roses, lycianthes, and snapdragons are good choices. Finish your bouquet with fillers. Fillers can be flowers or leaves. Bupleurum and fern complete this arrangement. Adjust the stems to perfect the arrangement. Tucking in [unk] as needed. Now, your

block of foam, florist's foam. I've been looking for ways to arrange flowers without using that foam and there some great tips and techniques we can all try. I love to use old-fashioned flower frogs. You can find them at flee markets, through stores, I paid $2-$5 for these. These are what our grandmother's used. And

the tangle of fibers, fill up the vase and then insert your flower stems into that framework. It looks really cool inside the clear vase and when the flowers are spent, this material can be toss along with everything into the compost bin. If you need to arrange short stems in

vase with foliage, pack it tight and use that to stabilize your flower stems. You'll have a great looking arrangements, it really works. I hope you'll try this easy, affordable and eco-friendly ideas for arranging your own flowers .

-Perennials, the flowers that come back every year are the perfect solution for you if you're looking to add easy care, color, and interest to your yard. Visit your local garden center and you're likely to find hundreds of beautiful varieties. To help you pick the best, here are 6 of our favorite low-maintenance perennial flowers . The most perennial geraniums bloom in spring and early summer and offer cherry flowers in shades in pink, purple, blue, and white. Perennial geraniums are usually ignored by the [unk] rabbits and some offer attractive foliage too. Standouts include Roseanne which blooms from June to frost with lavender blue flowers and Dragon Heart which blooms all summer with purple flowers that have striking black centers. Perennial flowers don't get much easy to grow than Daylilies bearing blooms in shades of purple, red, pink, peach, cream, yellow, and orange. They have almost grassy-looking foliage and bear pretty flowers on tall stalks. Though each individual flowers last just a day, the plants produce lots of them. Get a little extra bank for your garden by growing Rebloomers. They produce summertime flowers in 2 or 3 waves instead of just once. Also look with your nose. Some Daylilies are enticingly fragrant plus the flowers are edible. Use the petals to add a little color and texture to your summertime salads. Blanket flowers are tough Midwestern bearing plant that blooms all summer long. Its daisy-shaped blooms come in shades of red, yellow, and orange, and are surefire way to attract butterflies to your yard. Once established this perennial flower raises hot dry conditions like a channel. It's also a fantastic flower to cut and bring inside for bouquets. Yarrows are perfect companion to a blanket flower . Both of these perennials stand up to heat and drought and bear tons of blooms over the summer. The Yarrow flowers appear in shades of white, yellow, orange, red, and pink, and are accompanied by soft, almost funny looking foliage. The [unk] rabbits usually leave the Yarrow alone too. For shaded gardens you can't beat Hostas. These perennial flowers are really grown more for their leaves which come in shades of green, blue, and gold, and are often variegated with cream or white. Hostas range in size from 60 wide stunners to miniatures that are smaller than the palm of your hand. Phlox is a perennial flower that adds sweet fragrance to the garden in late summer. It shows off lovely blooms in shades of purple, pink, orange, red,