Create a flower arrangement and centerpiece for your table incorporating citrus with these easy shortcuts and tips, no floral foam required.
Raise your hand if you could use some flower therapy and some sunshine–> me, frantically waving my hand!
It’s been a dreary, rainy February with more rain ahead this week in the forecast,
so I’m happy to have some flower therapy to look forward to
with my Monday Morning Blooms’ friends!
You’ll find my blogging friends’ links to their blooming creations at the bottom of this post.
Our theme for this week’s edition of Monday Morning Blooms was ‘citrus’.
Citrus fruit adds a welcome burst of sunshine in winter, at its peak of freshness,
and when it’s at its sweetest and most juicy!
I incorporated oranges and lemons in my arrangement, keeping some of the fruit whole,
and slicing some in half to enjoy a fresh burst of aromatherapy too!
I started with a galvanized caddy for a centerpiece for the table that I have used before with flowers,
incorporating pumpkins and gourds for fall.
I used mason jars inside the caddy to hold the flowers. Ball Elite Wide Mouth Pint Jars
are just the right height (3.75 inches) for the caddy. Using individual jars is an eco-friendly alternative
to wet floral foam in an arrangement and makes it easy to replace individual flowers as they fade, win-win.
Plastic grocery store bags seem to multiply overnight at our house,
despite returning them to the store to recycle and using reusable shopping bags.
I used the bags to help space the jars in the caddy and to keep them
from shifting once they’re filled with water and flowers.
I felt like a kid in a candy store this past week with the explosion of flowers at the grocery store
for Valentine’s Day! I brought home some pink and yellow tulips, along with roses and carnations.
I went back to the store pick up some hyacinths to add to the arrangement,
deciding the pinks and yellows would benefit from a pop of white. . .
a fragrant addition as the hyacinths smell wonderful too!
Bamboo skewers from the grocery store are a favorite flower arranging tool when
incorporating fruits and veggies in an arrangement. You can break them off to the height needed,
to add to your vase or jars to hold the citrus.
Here is the completed arrangement, serving as a centerpiece for the table. . .
This pretty pink transferware pattern, Bristol Pink (Cream) by Crown Ducal,
belonged to my husband’s grandmother.
I love the combination of the birds with the flowers, as well as the scalloped edges of the plates.
I usually display it rather than eat on it, due to its age and as most pieces have heavy crazing.
A white matelassé coverlet provides a foundation for table, serving as a tablecloth . . .
Napkins are blooming with a floral print, paired with a red and white
ticking stripe and floral ceramic napkin rings. . .
Here are few tips to help extend the life of your flowers in your arrangement:
💐 Cut your flower stems at a 45 degree angle for maximum water uptake and remove any leaves below the water line.
💐 Always add the floral preservative packets to your vase water that come with your flowers from the store. If you don’t have any floral preservative, you can make your own with this easy formula.
💐 Check your water level to top it off if necessary. Some flowers like hydrangeas are heavy drinkers.
💐 If you’re using cut hydrangeas, use the alum-dipping method to keep them from wilting.
💐 Change your vase water every other day if possible.
💐 Keep your flower arrangement away from heat (like vents blowing) or direct sunlight.
Table Details:
Bristol Pink (Cream) by Crown Ducal / vintage
White dinner plates / Paula Deen Whitaker
White Chargers / HomeGoods, several years ago
Galvanized Chargers / Pier 1, several years ago
Galvanized Caddy / HomeGoods, a couple of years ago
Flatware / Wallace Luxe
Goblets / Mikasa French Countryside
Napkins / HomeGoods
Napkin Rings / consignment store
Visit my talented blogging friends to see their bloom creations this week:
Pam at Everyday Living
Shirley at Housepitality Designs
Our friend Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse was unable to join us this week.
We look forward to her joining us for the next MMB on March 3rd.
Thank you for your visit, sharing with:
Good Monday Morning!
So beautiful and cheerful. Great start to our day.
The China is gorgeous!
Thanks to you and your friends for sharing……
Can you see me jumping up and down waving my hands, arms and entire body to say “no more rain”! We need to pour our driveway so that we can move in! However, you chased my “rain soaked blues” away when I saw this most beautiful table!…oh the flowers how perfectly they are placed in that galvanized caddy. Would you believe i almost placed my flowers in an antique wooden caddy that I came across in the storage abyss. I so love the vintage pink transferware. I have a few pieces of that pattern in blue (reproduction) and one of my favorite patterns. I must say that you had me at the napkin! A most beautiful compliment to the entire table. You find the best things at HomeGoods. Have a fabulous day Mary, hopefully without rain. So happy to be joining you to day on MMB!
So very lovely Mary! Red and white always grabs my attention!
Happy Monday to you!
Mary, I actually gasped when I opened up your post this morning! What a beautiful combination of flowers and table for my winter weary eyes! I would love to find some tulips like those, your grocery store has the most gorgeous blooms! Thank you for the floral tips and beauty you share with all of us.
Oh my word…I agree with Kathy! Your flowers are SO gorgeous and I love the combination of the pinks, yellows and oranges. Thank you for such a beautiful start to my day. Your site is like opening up my favorite magazine. Happy Monday Mary. 🌷🍋🍊💐💕
Beautiful!
MARY! Here I am waving frantically 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻!!!! Love the arrangement and the addition of oranges are a hats off to Florida and it’s sunshine! Thank you!!
Gorgeous centerpiece! You do everything so well!
Good morning, Mary! Your centerpiece is certainly bursting with sunshine and made me smile 😊 this morning. The color combo, along with the citrus, makes your whole table a cheery one. I love your treasured pink transferware so very much. Thank you for all your helpful tips. 🥰
Love love love this, spring has sprung too early here, the whole month with no rain is frightening, although the garden is brightening we need winter to return. Your arrangement is gorgeous, I adore citrus touches, oranges and hyacinths, be still my swooning nose!
Oh Mary, you gals are really brightening up my gloomy Monday! I ❤️ your arrangement, my favorite colors and flowers so happily combined 🌼🌺🌷 The tulips are gorgeous, and the skewered fruit not only looks great but I bet it smells wonderful too! I have been buying flowers by the armload too, to keep these winter days cheery. I love this long and low arrangement and such a good idea to use grocery bags. The pink transferware is delightful with your flowers…I have pinned several photos for future paintings 🎨 💕
Jenna
Mary, you certainly put sunshine into my foggy and gray morning. The caddy is perfect for all of the beautiful and colorful blooms and citrus. I found no tulips last week, and was so hoping for some. The pink transferware is so lovely and I know a treasure to have. Our winter has been rain, gray skies, and warm temperatures. It is supposed to be cold later in the week. It is always a treat to share Monday Morning Blooms with you ♥️
Wow, Mary, this centerpiece is gorgeous! So colorful with interesting textures throughout! You always make things so beautiful. The photos speak for themselves. Again, I say “Wow”!
Good Morning Mary, you have pulled together an absolutely beautiful table with all the right ingredients. Thank you for sharing your creative talents and the instructions for creating this gorgeous arrangement and table design. You certainly have made my day brighter. Thank you.
What a beautiful blog to wake up to this morning! Love the arrangement and love your transferware. Transferware is one of my favorites :) I especially love the fact that your arrangement is low enough to hold conversations with others when it is placed on a dining room table.
Gorgeous! I love everything about this. The flowers and the fruit together look so fresh and the colors you paired together are just beautiful. The addition of the vintage china is so pretty too. The guests at this table would be very lucky.
Great ideas that you have passed on to your readers. Thank you
Just gorgeous! Your table looks so awesome! I just want to sit there and have a glass of wine and breathe it all in!
On the best advice is to vary sizes of blooms more. The arrangement is pretty much same size blooms. A first lesson in floral design. Everybody seems to be against foam these days there are many other ways to save the planet then restricting the use of 1 or 2 blocks of floral foam which is now available in a degradablev format The average consumer would find it very difficult to get all these flowers into those small jars you used. And the cost of this retail would be approximately $250 beyond the scope of most people ,,,nice effort. I love fruit in arrangement but you fail to mention it gives of ethylene gas which will cause your flowers to die quicker
Thanks for your design, monetary and longevity concerns regarding my flower arrangement. It seems many are divided with varying opinions on floral foam. I try not to use it if possible, opting for chicken wire whenever possible instead. The Ball Elite Jars have a 3” mouth which can hold a lot of floral stems; additionally, some of the roses were spray roses, with a single stem for multiple blooms. Anyone can place flowers in jars with no special skills required, whereas many are intimidated by using floral foam. As far as ethylene gas, I have mentioned that concern before with regards to incorporating fruit in an arrangement, just not on this post as it was a citrus challenge. One of the benefits of using the jars instead of foam is you can remove the flowers as that start to fade without wrecking the design, as a dying flower releases ethylene gas too, that will hasten the decline of other flowers in your arrangement.
As far as budget, I like showing and using grocery store flowers that are very affordable with $4 for a small bunch to $20 for a mixed bouquet. The week proceeding Valentine’s Day, the grocery stores were packed with bundles, all affordably priced. I totaled up my flowers which admittedly is more than I spend on a regular basis for a floral post, but still well under what a florist would charge for a 24-inch long arrangement: (2) $4 bunches of carnations, (2) $9.99 bunches of roses, $12 for hyacinths and $12 for tulips for a total of $52 for flowers, plus the cost of citrus. Nowhere close to $250.
Thank you for this response! I would add that even biodegradable foam leaves behind small pieces of foam. They say these pieces are “environmentally neutral” but I don’t trust “them”. I’d rather reuse something, as you do, than add to our already overfull landfills.
Regarding that cost of the arrangement, I prefer to buy faux flowers that last indefinitely and don’t require expensive next-day shipping from wherever they’re ‘grown’. Your displays illustrate how different colors can be combined, regardless of the source or variety of the bloom. Faux flowers aren’t affected by ethylene gas….
I LOVE this table and have already sourced the cloth so that I can recreate it. The color combination is sublime.
Love all that you do and share! Thank you!
Absolutely Gorgeous Mary!!!
Of all your beautiful arrangements, this one steals the show ! WOWZA !
Gorgeous arrangement and stunning tablescape! I love the flowers you found! The pink and yellow tulips are so sweet and the roses, carnations plus the citrus and hyacinths look wonderful in your galvanized caddy! I know the hyacinths smell heavenly and the touch of white was perfect.
I love your husband’s grandmother’s transferware. You have made every element on your table shine. Those napkins are so pretty and matelasse´ is always my go-to choice for a tablecloth.
I am waving my hand frantically also. It has rained so much!
Mary, your floral arrangement and tablescape was fabulous!
So Valentine and Spring at the same time. Loved it!
What a gorgeous arrangement! Loved all the pinks, yellows and greens. And the fruit too, ethylene gas notwithstanding. Like you, I enjoy grocery store flowers and we get a wonderful selection here in Washington State, a happy thing to help us through our long gray winters. Thanks so much for a beautiful start to the week.
Kitty M
……and you always make MY day. Thank you for your beautiful posts!
Hi Mary! I absolutely love it when you pair florals and fruit. Just lovely!
What a cheerful arrangement Mary! The colors are so pretty. Love the tulips! The galvanized caddy is perfect. I enjoyed the tablescape as well. My hands flew up in the air when you asked if we were tired of gray skies & rain! Happy Monday to you! Clara ♥️
This has to be the prettiest arrangement that I’ve seen – thank you! I’m definitely giving it a try this spring.
Great color and no doubt it smells amazing too Mary-enjoy:@)
Wow this is so beautiful! What a lovely array of flowers and the colors are yummy! Those are beautiful dishes and go well with the flowers. Love the fresh cut citrus- I know how that must smell!
You certainly cheered me up. Love the transferware and those napkins remind me of my mother’s old tablecloth.
In the big picture, a picture of happiness gets more respect than climate changers and naysayers.
Mary, you have outdone yourself once again, this is absolutely gorgeous! The addition of the fruit is awesome, like instant sunshine! We all love everything you create and we have learned so much from you, thank you for always sharing and educating us on so many things. Please contine! 😘 ♥️♥️♥️
Mary, the colors in the arrangement are gorgeous. I love all the citrus that you added, it adds color and cheeriness. Thank you for sharing all this beauty with us.
Have not used citrus in flower arrangements in years but how pretty!!! I have some oranges that are a little past the edible stage in the fridge but would work just fine with florals. Looks like a trip to the grocery store for flowers is in order.
Mary,
This is one stunning Floral arrangement! Sitting here with 2 1/2 feet of snow I can most certainly appreciate this delightful combination of tulips, citrus and roses. Also, thank you for these neat tips on how to make our own arrangements with some items that we might just have around the house. I always appreciate your talents and creativty!
Jemma
Mary, this is a wonderful mix of blooms, and adding in the cirtus adds visual texture and the scent of orange. I like the idea! I use grocery store flowers too, especially Trader Joe’s. They are reasonable in price, and the variety is amazing. We rarely recycle glass jelly or yogart jars these days. Instead they get reused or repurpsed as containers for various things, flowers included! Always a joy to see your arrangements!
Your arrangement is so beautiful with all of the citrusy colors combined with the citrus fruits!
Stunning floral arrangement! Such talent!
I’m running out of words…..your arrangements and tablescapes are so gorgeous! I just love the colors and the way the flowers and citrus are so fitting for this galvanized trough! I enjoyed all of the Monday Morning Blooms arrangements so much! Thank you!
Oh my gosh Mary – this is simply stunning!! These are my favorite colors and flowers and everything! I’m with Linda above – running out of words! GORGEOUS!
Oh wow! This is beautiful Mary – the flowers are such pretty colors and the citrus is the perfect touch. Such creativity and inspiration – thank you for sharing!