What would warm weather be without flowers? Roses, tulips, anemones – these cheery reminders of spring and summer brighten up even the dullest day and you home decor. Not such a green thumb? That's ok! We're not all gardeners, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy flowers galore in our homes. Mild weather means these blooming beauties are in abundance, so a trip or a phone call to your favourite florist means you can bring these pretty flowers home, today. No garden required!

The owner of Toronto-based Nice Stems Floral Design (nicestems.ca), Margarite Raposo shares some fascinating flowers facts and tips for floral arrangements that are beautiful for spring.

Spring flower facts
Fact 1: Because cut peonies are in season for such an unpredictable, short period (around two weeks), no good florist will guarantee them for an event planned ahead of time, like a wedding, Margarite says. So, if you see cut peonies and you love them -- buy them! They'll be gone in a few weeks' time.

Fact 2: Tulips are the only flowers that continue to grow after they are cut.

Fact 3: One of the only true blue flowers readily available is anemones. Most of the "blue" flowers you see are coloured with food dye in their water.

New floral trend:
Square, ceramic vases. You'll be seeing a movement away from the traditional glass vases where you can see stems, toward opaque white ceramics. "It gives arrangements a cleaner look," Margarite says.

Beautiful ideas for arrangements


1 Anemones and parrot tulips
Blue and purple anemones and fluttery two-tone burgundy parrot tulips make for a striking bouquet in saturated colours. A flourish of gauzy ribbon grounds the look. Anemones are one of the hottest flowers this spring, available in red, white, blue, purple and pink.

Photography courtesy of Nice Stems.

2 Roses, parrot tulips, Asiatic lilies
Pink-on-pink is a delightfully girly combination. If you're relatively handy with floral foam, this is a bouquet you could easily make yourself. Pick up pink parrot tulips with a touch of green in them, fuchsia roses and open and closed Asiatic lilies, arrange in a white square container with floral foam inside and voilà! Not into pink? Margarite says that yellow is big this season, particularly big bunches of canary yellow carnations.


3 Spider mums, roses, rhododendron, two-tone mums
Nothing says spring as delicately as green, mauve and yellowy-cream flowers. This is an extremely luxe, traditional arrangement, which would look lovely in a modern space, but just perfect in a home full of old-fashioned character. Seen here: green spider mums, mauve 'Coolwater roses,' two-tone mauve-and-green mums and yellow Rhododendron.


4 Mums, roses, salal leaves
Soft white feathers adorn the bottom of this white ceramic container, but they don't compete with the flowers above. This arrangement contains namely, mauve 'Coolwater' roses, and lots of white and pink mums, plus Salal leaves (also known as lemon leaves) for a touch of rich green.

Photography courtesy of Nice Stems.

5 Roses, hypericum berries
Some people love their arrangements fresh, fabulous, but most of all, simple: one flower only, please! In this case, the only flower here is cream 'Vandella' roses, which stay fresh for ages and are ideally suited to wedding bouquets, Margarite says. Jazzing up the arrangement is a gentle lacing of hypericum berries in jade.


6 Roses, cymbidium orchids, celosia, nerine
An arrangement of sumptuous roses with their petals flipped open and ethereal nerine is a showstopper. Here's what you see, from the middle: Hot pink roses with their petals flipped open (use your thumb and forefinger to gently invert them); pink Cymbidium orchids, red Celosia (coxcomb), and pink nerine. They're arranged in a simple square glass vase.


7 Roses, anemones, spider mums
Into strong bursts of natural colour? Try a bouquet of blue anemones, fuchsia pink roses and green spider mums. The look is fluffy and soft and not too fussed over, but will make a statement in your home. Hurray for spring flowers!

 

Helen Racanelli is the feature writer at STYLE AT HOME magazine, and the web editor of CanadianLiving.com

Photography courtesy of Nice Stems.