A year of flowers with a round up of DIY floral arrangements and seasonal centerpiece inspiration. You’ll find flower longevity tips, short cuts and techniques to create affordable arrangements using grocery store and garden flowers.
Happy January!
I hope your holidays were merry and bright and pray that we’re all heading into a happier and healthier New Year!
It’s always a joy to pick some Monday Morning Blooms to share with my flower-loving friends, Shirley, Pam, Lidy, and YOU, our readers, on the first and third Mondays of every month!
Today we’re sharing a look back at ‘A Year of Flowers’ with highlights from the months and seasons, along with a giveaway and secret to help your flowers last longer! This is a photo heavy post so settle in and grab something warm to drink. ☕
You’ll find my friends’ links along with the giveaway details at the bottom of this post.
Back in mid-March, flowers were as hard to come by as disinfecting wipes and toilet paper and certainly a lower priority! We decided to forgo our traditional common-themed flower posts and opted for “anything goes”, using whatever flowers we could find. Most of my blooms came from the garden starting in April, and hydrangeas were featured more often than in the previous years.
Click on the links in highlighted in red if you’d like to visit the post for the tutorial or tips.
Winter Nesting: Winter White Table + Orchid Arrangement
Orchids can bloom for 2 – 3 months, so consider adding them a container to enjoy for some tropical blooms for the winter! Sprigs off greenery, pine cones, a bird and nest with a dusting of faux snow add some winter nesting details and centerpiece for a winter nesting table.
January Blues and Blooms on the Porch
Celebrating the January Blues with hydrangeas and tulips on the porch. If you’ve ever wanted to conceal the stems of a flower arrangement in a glass vase, here’s an easy trick and affordable way to do it!
Farm Fresh Flower Shop Delivery + Arrangement for Valentine’s Day
A Christmas truck centerpiece gets a makeover, delivering ‘farm fresh’ flowers for Valentine’s Day.
Floral Arrangement with Tulips, Roses and Citrus + Pink Transferware Table
Create a flower arrangement and centerpiece for your table incorporating citrus with these easy shortcuts and tips, no floral foam required.
All Abuzz: Bees and Blooms in the Potting Shed
Bees are buzzing in the Potting Shed in anticipation of spring with an assortment of green and white blooms.
White Blooms and Ball Jar Bouquets in the Potting Shed
Blue and white transferware and Ball jar bouquets of white spring garden blooms. . .Snowball Viburnum, Bridal Wreath Spirea and Lenton Roses.
Monday Morning Garden Blooms + Mother of Pearl Rose
A nod to Mother’s Day and garden arrangement in a vintage enamelware pitcher, filled with Snowball Viburnum. Bachelor Buttons, Lady Banks and Mother of Pearl Roses.
Fresh Flower Market + Peonies in the Potting Shed
Fresh Flower Market fun in the Potting Shed with Ball Jar Bouquets of Peonies and Garden Bouquet by Johnson Brothers
In Praise of Endless Summer Hydrangeas: Garden Flower Arrangement + Table
A tip to keep cut hydrangeas from wilting and a centerpiece of garden hosta leaves, hydrangeas and Verbena Lollipop
Flower Market Buckets + Blooms Around the Potting Shed
Garden blooms in Flower Market Buckets: Hydrangeas, Soda Pop Butterfly Bush, Verbena Lollipop, Hosta leaves and Sarah Bernhardt Peonies
Create a flower crown to celebrate birthdays, weddings or for any special occasion. You’ll find helpful tips and techniques, along with floral longevity tips.
Bees, Sunflowers and Hydrangeas Arrangement +Tablescape
All things *bee* table with an arrangement of grocery store flowers and Limelight hydrangeas from the garden
Garden Bouquet and Posies in the Potting Shed
Weighing in on blooming dish and flower love with late summer garden bouquets and Scarlet Posey dinnerware
A Sunny Transition Flower Arrangement
A biscuit tin with colorful graphics provides the inspiration for a sunny transitional flower arrangement. Apples and artichokes add interest and texture and help your floral material go farther.
DIY Succulent Pumpkin Centerpiece
This Succulent Pumpkin Centerpiece tutorial is a fun project that I had on my ‘to do’ list for several years! They’re easier to create than you might think for your fall or Thanksgiving table, and the succulents can be transplanted after pumpkin season!
Delicious Autumn Arrangement + Hydrangeas Last Hurrah
Foliage clipped from the trees and shrubs. . .Sweet Gum, Maple, Lespedeza and Black Diamond Crape Myrtle, join the last of the hydrangeas for a autumn arrangement and vignette with apples, pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn.
Whimsical Fall Table with DIY Pumpkin-Floral Runner
Fanciful animal portrait plates and a favorite method and organic way to create a natural runner for the table
Top Hat Snowman Centerpiece and Table
A snowman top hat provides inspiration for a table and centerpiece using greenery from the yard, Christmas picks and candy canes
In celebration of ‘A Year of Flowers’ we’re sharing a secret to longer lasting flower arrangements with a giveaway: Crowning Glory Solution!
I’ve used Floralife Clear Crowning Glory Solution for over a year now and it’s a game changer when it comes to prolonging the life of your cut flowers and arrangements! Crowning Glory is an anti-transpirant that comes as a ready-to-use spray, sealing in moisture and drying to a clear finish with no residue, making it especially ideal for a flower crown, corsages or boutonnieres.
It’s safe to use on all flower types and especially wonderful for cut hydrangeas that are prone to wilting due to moisture loss, and the sweet but short-lived peony!
You can mist your flowers individually with Crowning Glory, allow to dry and then re apply the spray to your completed arrangement in your vase or floral foam. Continue to add water to your foam and change your vase water every few days as you would normally do. I’ve had hydrangeas last for two weeks!
It’s especially handy for flowers that will be out of water. Spray both the front and back of your flowers, shake off any excess and allow to dry, then arrange down your table. Your flowers will last significantly longer!
Note: If using Crowning Glory on roses or tulips, only spray those that are open or have begun to open as it will prohibit them from opening further.
To enter the giveaway and for a chance to win a 32 oz. bottle of Floralife Clear Crowning Glory Solution, just leave a comment telling me your favorite flower.
For a second entry, Pin a photo from this post to Pinterest and leave an additional comment telling me so. The Pin/Save button pops up on the upper left corner of each photo.
This giveaway is open to those living in the continental U.S. through midnight January 10th.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
Visit my flower friends to see their Year of Flowers and additional chances to win:
Pam at Everyday Living
Shirley at Housepitality Designs
Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.”
– Luther Burbank
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Thank you for your visit, sharing with:
Love your combinations1. Thank you!
Hydrangeas! Love the big beautiful flowers.
Happy New Year! I look forward to your posts. I love visiting with you and the girls,Sophie & Lola.
Barbara
Happy New Year Mary! What a way to start the New Year than seeing all the beauty of flowers that you have brought to us the past year. You are truly an inspiration to me and everyone who cannot wait to see your posts. Monday Morning Blooms has truly been a highlight this past year in a year of us really needing some happy and the beauty of nature. I look forward to a great 2021 of wonderful Blooms creations together! Happy New Year Mary!
Oh Mary, so much beauty in one place! This fills my garden loving heart to see all those gorgeous hydrangeas on a cold January day! You ladies do the most wonderful job with your flower series and I so look forward to seeing your creations. I have never heard of Crowning Glory and would so love a bottle to prolong the life of my flowers. My favorite flowers are hydrangeas and peonies. Thanks so much for the giveaway and I look forward to your posts this year! 🌷💐🌼🌻❤️
Thanks for the chance to win. I pinned your quote photo and collage to my Flower Power board on Pinterest. 🌷💐🌻🌼❤️
I loved seeing all your beautiful pictures! The flower therapy is just what I needed! 🌷🌺🌸🌼🌻💐
Thank you!
It is so hard to pick just one favorite flower or even two or three but I love daisies and sunflowers and oh just about anything that blooms. Have a wonderful week and thanks for all your pictures they so brighten my day.
Stargazer lillies! Since I live in Louisville, we have them frequently around Derby time. I arrange fresh flowers for our church almost weekly so your tips have been so helpful. Thanks for sharing!
So thankful to you for brightening my days with your floral masterpieces. My favorite flower is the Zinnia. I call them my “firecracker flower” because they bloom the best around July 4th and the many varieties come in multicolors.
I’ve pinned several of your articles but first it was the transitional spread. Love the colors.
Peace ☮️ and light!
Mary, Thank you for a wonderful and beautiful year of flowers! I have learned so many helpful tips from you with the alum, vegetable peeler and chicken wire! Your shed is SO gorgeous with your hydrangeas and window boxes in bloom. I am intrigued by Crowning Glory and would love to try it. I’ve never met a flower I didn’t love but if I had to pick favorite it would be hydrangeas and sunflowers.
KathyP
I pinned your collage and window boxes with hydrangeas. Thank you again for a chance to win and your beautiful posts. KathyP
What a beautiful collection of floral inspirations! You’ve given me a lovely start to this January morning. My favorite flower is hydrangea, and am blessed to have many hydrangea shrubs flourishing in my yard to supply me with a steady supply of blooms.
Thanks so much for all your beautiful flower arrangements. My favorite flower is the larkspur.
Mary, Thank you for sharing your talents and tips with us. I always know I’m in for a treat when I see a new post from you. Your “blooms” series is a favorite of mine and I love that you used some many flowers from your garden. You inspired me to plant some Limelight Hydrangeas last year and I can’t wait for them to bloom this summer. My favorite flowers would have to be hydrangeas as there are so many varieties. My hubby planted an Endless Summer Hydrangea for me for Mother’s Day a couple of years ago. Thanks for the giveaway and flower therapy. It’s especially appreciated this time of year as I always feel a little blue after the holidays.
Teresa
Mary, what a splendid way to start the first Monday of a new year with the outstanding floral arrangements that you shared last year. Each one is truly beautiful and inspiring. I look forward to sharing another year of blooms and gardens. Looking back over a year where it wasn’t always easy to get flowers, we all survived! Thank you for the beauty and creativity you always share ♥️
Favorite is peony!
Thank you for another beautiful year of flowers! I always look forward to your tutorials and you inspired me to broaden my flower horizons this past year and enjoy some bouquets on my kitchen table while we sheltered at home. I have never heard of Crowning Glory and popped over to look …wow, such rave reviews. It sounds like a miracle product and I would love to be entered to win a bottle. If I had to pick a favorite flower it would be zinnia as they bloom so long in the heat of the summer and the butterflies and bees love them. Thank you Mary!
P. S. Pinned your first photo for a reference and your sweet pups on your bench.
Cheryl
Mary, I love that y’all decided to start the year with a review of your previous year arrangements.
I enjoyed each month all over again and marvel at your creativity. I will be rereading again later today because there is so much to absorb.
Happy New Year!
Have really enjoyed your posts and this one especially. So much inspiration in one place. Favorite flower is the peony.
A year of flowers, a year of Joy. I count the day I discover your blog as one of the best days ever
What exciting news that peonies can last longer…they are my favorite flower…probably because they were my fathers and when they bloom the scent is heavenly as he is right now!! Thanks again for the info and GOOD LUCK TO ALL!! 🌹❤️👏🏻
I pinned the Fresh Flower in the Potting shed! It was beautiful!!
My favorite flower is the peony.
Thank you so much for reminding me how much I love flowers and how long it’s been since I have had them in my house! This year, when I would have enjoyed them most, I have mostly had grocery deliveries but no flower deliveries. I live in an apartment. Even my Christmas cactus didn’t bloom this year!
This is changing today! And I can’t seem to pick just one favorite flower. I love daisies (my daughter had a daisy wedding last year) and pink roses and larkspur and day lilies and…I’ll stop now. I will definitely post this on my Pinterest and start adding photos of my monthly flowers this year.
MARY YOUR TABLESCAPES ARE TO DIE FOR. THIS IS SUCH A LOVELY SERIES. YOU LADIES ARE SO TALENTED!!
I’d be hard-pressed to choose of favorite of your floral combinations, Mary. I really like how the white at the first of the year calms, but the citrus combined with the red transferware is so invigorating! It just all depends on mood, and your blooms can certainly create moods. Wonderful series.
My favorite flower is Shasta Daisy
I always look forward to your posts and this one makes my heart sing! Much needed inspiration as I clear out my Christmas decor and settle in for a cold, damp winter! I share your ideas at workshops that I conduct at a local Antique/Gift shop and I’m pinning these for future projects! Thanks for all you do to share your talents with us! Here’s to a blessed, healthy and happy new year!
Peony with their multi petaled blooms.
Good Morning! I love, Love, Love Roses! (which reminds me, I must prune mine) I pinned your beautiful photo/post on my Pinterest. Thank you for the beautiful flowers and ideas. It made me happy. I have been needing some sunshine posts!
Hi! I posted on Pinterest!
Oh my goodness – you gave an impossible chore to name A (I assume meaning one) flower!!! Whatever is nearby and blooming would be my favorite! Thanks for the giveaway.
Me again! I also posted to Pinterest!
A great post to start off 2021! I re-visited your orchid post as I have a orchid now and will attempt to create a similar vignette. I like all flowers but white orchids are my favorite as they can last a couple of months and I try to bring back the flowering process. Not all with luck but in my former home I had luck for many years with my cidbidium orchid.
So beautiful Mary! Every photo is amazing! I simply adore wild woodland violets and wish their blooming season was longer! 💜🌿
This was such a beautiful year in review of your magical flower arranging, Mary. You surely brighten our days with those centerpieces that you share.
My favorite flower is an orchid!
My favorite has to the Chinese Lantern. Fall is my favorite season and the shape and color is very reminiscent of fall. I actually have two, the Bells of Ireland as well, because well my family is Irish.
Mary, it is such a treat to see the beautiful arrangements you’ve created through the seasons last year all in one place! I couldn’t possibly choose a favorite, just as I can’t choose a favorite flower! The floral spray certainly sounds like magic, I hopped right over to Amazon and bought some! I’m looking forward to more Monday Morning Blooms in 2021!
Jenna
Each photo out did the last. My favorite flower is the Peony :)
2 things I adore, dogs and gardens, I could look at photos all day long!
When I look out my window at all of the winter white, it’s lovely, but cannot compare to the warm, fuzzy feelings I get looking at all of the wonderful, colorful blooms and tablescapes. Thank you, Mary. It`s so hard to chose a favorite flower, but I would say peonies because the fragrance matches their beauty.
What a way to start the week then with all these beautiful flower arrangements. Since tulips are my favorite flower (actually I’ve never seen a flower I don’t like) the stunning arrangement with tulips, roses and citrus caught my eye. I can’t imagine a world without flowers.
Mary, what a great way to start the year with floral therapy from this group of talented ladies! I do enjoy reading your posts and have tried many of your recipes and even made the bird seed gingerbread house with my granddaughters! I love the Hydrangea but you have opened my eyes to so many new flowers – who knew there were verbena lollipops?! Thank you for the beautiful and fun inspiration that you provide. I have pinned your Top Hat Snowman photo. Happy New Year!
This was just the little pick me up I needed on this dreary Monday morning. Beauty and bounty to boot!! Ha! If I had to pick just one, I think it’s the one that brings me the most joy and happiness when I walk into the garden centers in the spring…the flowers I love to see planted in a cheery window box, hanging basket, or most any container. I love vibrant, cherry red, knock your socks off geraniums. No, not the best flower for flower arranging in a vase or such, but the sheer sight of them sure makes me happy. Speaking of happy, Happy New Year to YOU, Mary!
What an ideal post to start out a new year! Flowers always make me happy and hopeful of good things to come. My favorite flowers are Dahlias as they are big and you can’t help but smile when you see them! Happy New Year Mary.
I love all flowers so I think I will pick my favorite flower that I grew last year…..Zinnias. There are so many new varieties! I especially love the new Queen Lime series in Orange, Red, Blush, etc. They are easy to grow from seed, have long sturdy stems for excellent cut flowers and last a long time in the garden and the vase. One of my New Years resolutions is to have a bouquet of fresh flowers and/or greenery in my house year round. I’m excited to learn about Clear Crowning Glory Solution. Happy New Year to all!
As usual I posted many of your A Year in Flowers posts on my Pinterest boards. I treasure each one!
Happy New Year! Here’s looking forward to many beautiful floral arrangements yet to be made at your house and mine! Hmmm… considering just spraying MYSELF from head to toe with this miracle spray😂! Thanks for inspiration for so many centerpieces . And, my fav flowers are daffodils. I just keep planting..and planting..and planting! Have a happy day!
My favorite flower is the Hydrangea. However, I have yet to see a flower arrangement you have made that I would not set on my table. You have an incredible talent! Happy New Year!
My favorite flower is the hydrangea. I have enjoyed seeing the arrangements made from blogger’s own gardens. They have been lovely, relatable, and inspiring!.
Love to look at all the flower pics! Great for what is always a boring January for me. Love Hydrangeas and petunias. I pinned a picture.
A Happy New Year of beautiful flowers. My favorite flower would be the numerous Hydrangeas I have in my yard.
Love looking at your flowers and your pups. My favorite is the sunflower. they always remind me of the happy days I spent with my late husband in Provence. Also love mimosa but difficult to find in my local florists.
Flowers just make you smile. My favorite is the peony. I am looking forward to planting flowers at my new home.
My favorite flower is the gardenia. Daisies and geraniums run a close favorite, also! I pinned the top hat table to my board Gorgeous Tablescapes. Thanks for your beautiful posts!
Thank you I needed this. January is so long here and February so cold. Can not wait to see the hydrangea again.
I’ve been following and enjoying all your gorgeous flower post….what a variety of looks, theme, colors. Still I enjoy reviewing this end-of-year post, which I will look at again just for the sheer pleasure of seeing the beauty, Happy, healthy new year wishes.
How can anyone choose just one favorite flower? I love so many but I will say that my first ever favorite flower was Lily of the Valley that grew in a neighbors front yard. I “discovered” them when I was only 4 years old, they were hidden and delicate with such a delightful scent that I was sure the fairies lived among them. I would say next I discovered bearded Iris that grew along another neighbor’s front walkway and the scent of any now will bring me right back to my 7 yo self. A brief encounter with the pungent hyacinth also at that age plucked from a neighbors yard on Mother’s Day and given to my Mom…she didn’t scold me too badly lol. And when I was 9 years old my Mom remarried and I was a flower girl with a big colorful bouquet of carnations all with their delightful scents intact (now found mostly in the white ones). Later we moved to Arizona (from Vermont) and the intoxicating scent of orange blossoms would waft over our entire neighborhood from the nearby orchards. Lately I have learned to appreciate the subtle scents and flowers of powerful pollinators to help restore the food source for our endangered insects, namely bees. Yeah, I could go on and on. Impossible to pick just one flower. Happy New Year to all. Love this blog!
Flowers are in my DNA…since I have to pick…ONE, it is the hydrangea. It’s mood changes almost as much as mine…I just “spray painteed some to coordinate with…yup, another mood…franki
All I can say is that your post and pictures make me happy !! They are all so beautiful and uplifts me. Thank you
Any flower is a favorite for me but I have a special affinity to hibiscus!
I have pinned several of your photos and I am on my way to creating even more beautiful ideas, for my cooking, she shed and table spread, thanks to you and your inspiration!
Thank you for al the lovely ideas. So hard to pick just one, hydrangeas, OK – I have to cheat and add another, Peony
I pinned several pics too. Clara❤️
Favorite flower is Sunflower. Your Bees and Sunflower and Delicious Autumn arrangements were beautiful.
Mary, Your compilation is beautiful. While we know 2020 held many challenges, your green thumb came through with much beauty. Your compilation would make a lovely calendar. I am in awe of your hydrangeas which is always a favorite of mine. We hope to have some blooming this year as the deer ate them in 2020. Have a wonderful week sweet friend. Clara ❤️
Hard to pick…..hydrangeas and peonies!
I believe my two favorites are zinnias and sunflowers! They last so long and their colors so bright and pretty! Thank you Mary for all your beautiful posts!
Hi Mary,
I’m still holding on to hydrangeas as my all-time favorite flower. I love how hearty and versatile they can be. Your flowers are always gorgeous. The bunnies in your garden are lucky!
Beautiful way to start the New Year!
Hi Mary, I have to say peonies are my favorite flower. My daughter in law’s favorite flower is the hydrangea. Thank you for the giveaway.
Mary, thank you for sharing a year of your beautiful arrangements–wonderful to see them again, all in one place. I especially love the ones of your fur babies in their flower crowns–adorable!
Peonies are my favorites. I’m planning on purchasing an apricot colored one
in the spring in memory of my mom.
I love the fragrance of magnolias.
Absolutely beautiful, each and every one. You always inspire, Mary, its a joy to see your divine flower arrangements, I look forward to another year sharing our flower therapy for our beloved Monday Morning Blooms.
Flowers and more flowers. After a funeral this past weekend, I needed something to cheer me up. I think my favorite is the iris with hydrangeas a close second.
Poppies are my favorite flower!
digicats {at} sbcglobal {dot} net
A rose by any other name …………….
It would have to be roses, of course, since that is my middle name! However, I see the beauty in ALL flowers–from the lowly dandelion weed flower (yellow is just a happy color!) to the glorious blue in a puffy hydrangea blossom.
I luv hydrangeas- they are so delightful all year long whether fresh or dried. We can’t grow them in Az where I live. Try to find some pitted at Xmas time to get thru the year / thks for the giveaway
Mary, you inspire me. I go to your blog when I need help decorating something because I know you will always have something that will help me. Bless you – I love all flowers, but am especially fond of lilacs! – iris – peonies – hydrangeas – lol love them all.
I shared two of your posts to pinterest. I follow you on there as well. Thanks
Mary, all of your posts are beautiful ! My favorite flower is whatever is in bloom at the time ! If I have to pick one ,it Is the bearded iris . 🌷💐🌹🌻🌼🌸
Thank you for such a lovely giveaway. I love seeing all your beautiful floral arrangements. My favorite flower is the carnation.
I love hydrangeas. So many beautiful colors to choose from.
If I have to choose 1 flower the rose would win every time. This Monday Morning Blooms has been a real treat to see all the different arrangements and style from 4 very talented ladies! Mary your creativity and attention to detail is inspirational, love your style. Thanks for the opportunity to win this new to me product.
Denise
Love your way! Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece.