Serving Up Flowers In A Pumpkin Tureen

Are you ready for fall and pumpkins?

We still have plenty of summer-like temperatures and warm weather ahead of

 us here in the South, but I began the count down to fall a month ago!

Pumpkins are just starting to arrive at the garden centers and

 nurseries and I’m ready for a Happy Harvest and all things pumpkin!

One of my favorite uses for a pumpkin is as a vase for a centerpiece

or seasonal display for the table, buffet, or kitchen island

with flowers, fruit, leaves, and berries. . .

{Harvest, Reaping, and Sowing}

{Thanksgiving With a Touch of Blue}

It makes a beautiful last hurrah for your pumpkin for the season and

for Thanksgiving, assembled with some produce and flowers

from the grocery store or garden.

{Thanksgiving Lakeside}

You can even use tiger striped or small pumpkins as mini bouquets

and as take-home favors for your guests at each place setting!

 I’m kicking off the fall season with a flower-filled pumpkin tureen!

Instead of soup, my tureen is serving up sunflowers, along with mums, Alstroemeria, artichokes, apples and some foliage from shrubs and trees for a blooming and seasonal centerpiece.

I’m not a floral designer so what I’ve learned is by trial and error, but here’s how I build a pumpkin vase centerpiece:

Start by soaking wet floral foam bricks (like Oasis®, around $2 a brick) until they are saturated and heavy with water. You can find wet floral foam at craft stores or Walmart in the floral department. You can find some helpful tips on using wet floral foam from the American Rose Society, here.

Note: If using a real pumpkin, you would cut and prepare your pumpkin as you would a jack-o’-lantern, removing the insides and seeds.

Place your wet foam in a plastic container or bowl inside your pumpkin, or line the inside of the pumpkin with a plastic bag to keep any water from the floral foam away from the bottom of the pumpkin, keeping it as dry as possible to help it last longer.

Floral foam is easy to trim with a kitchen knife to fit your container or pumpkin. You can piece your bricks together, wedging them in your container or pumpkin for a tight fit. Floral adhesive waterproof tape will prevent the foam and/or flowers in your container from shifting once your arrangement is complete. My foam was wedged in tightly, so I skipped the tape.

I start with leaves I cut to give the centerpiece some structure and height as a guideline.

Next I added sunflowers as my focal flowers. I use an odd number of sunflowers, or 5 for this arrangement, and because they came in a convenient bunch of 5 for $6 at the grocery store :) You can find a great selection of affordable flowers at Trader Joes for $3.99.

I like to add some produce, apples, artichokes, lemons, etc. with flowers in an arrangement. They add texture, color and interest and you need fewer flowers in your arrangement.

Except for the focal flowers, I group my like elements together. Cluster the apples, artichokes and mums and daisies together for pockets of color and texture in your arrangement and to make a bigger impact and statement.

 I use floral picks (available at the craft store) to anchor the fruit and artichokes to the foam. If I need more height I use a sturdy stick rather than a pick.

After the larger elements are in, I add the filler flowers. I cut some goldenrod, free for the picking, leaves, and some long-lasting Alstroemeria, $4, from the grocery store.

You can find some helpful tips for conditioning your foliage and cut flowers to make them last longer here.

You can use individual leaves or button mums to fill in any gaps or holes between the fruit and flowers. Remove and replace any foliage or leaves as they wilt to enjoy your arrangement longer.

Dogwoods are starting to show the first bit of fall color so I cut some leaves for their spotted foliage and red berries.

Your arrangement will last a week or longer depending on the condition of your pumpkin! Keep your arrangement out of direct sunlight and mist the flowers with water occasionally.

I had a reader share that her the pumpkin rotted, ruining the finish of her dining room table so it’s always a good idea to place your pumpkin on a platter or tray, as a precaution, rather than directly on your table.

Pumpkin Tureen, Pier 1 Imports

Pumpkin Patch Crewel Embroidered Pillow Cover, Pottery Barn, last year, still available this year

Plaid Throw, Target, several years ago

Are you ready for fall and pumpkin season?

Thank you for your visit!

Sharing with:  Metamorphosis Monday,