Erin Benzakein is a farmer, florist, author, and flower boot camp instructor.
Yes, flower boot camp. It’s where you go to learn how to grow, arrange, and photograph blooms, whether you’re a hobbyist (Benzakein prefers “dreamer”) or a hardcore grower.
Benzakein started offering the three-day workshops in 2013, seven years after she began growing flowers on a small farm outside Seattle. She sells her flowers wholesale, but she’s mainly focused on researching which seeds and bulbs produce the best colors and fragrances. She’s also building a “farmer-florist collective,” a database of (mainly women) farmers and florists committed to local, seasonal, and sustainably grown flowers.
This spring, she wrote Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest & Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms with co-author Julie Chai. We asked her to expand on the “arrange” part, so you can create your own dinner party–worthy floral spread with store-bought flowers in just a few minutes.
Shop for flowers like you shop for food
“If you go to a corner mart, most of their flowers have probably been shipped from South America and spray-painted,” warns Benzakein. “But Whole Foods or any natural grocery stores that sell higher-end produce will label their flowers and give you the name of the farm that they came from. And the farmers’ market is where you get the best stuff.”
And just like food, flowers have seasons. In spring, reach for daffodils, lilacs, tulips, and ranunculus. In summer, peonies, zinnias, lilies, and sunflowers. And in fall, mums, dahlias, and ornamental flowering kale and cabbages.
Pick one color
The simplest option is to buy flowers in, say, all white or bright red. Then divvy them up among whatever you have in your cupboard—bud vases, pint glasses, jam jars—and space them out down the center of the table.
Or follow the rule of three
If you’d prefer to make one bigger arrangement, you’ll want three components. “When I make a bouquet, I buy half foliage, or filler, which could be branches, vines, or anything green, really,” says Benzakein. “Then the other half is a mix of big, fat blooms and smaller flowers, like chrysanthemums, that have more of a spray bloom.” You can also incorporate produce: Benzakein has made arrangements using baby green beans on the stem, dill, basil, garlic scapes, and artichokes.
Think like an engineer
The foundation of your arrangement should be any sturdy branches, followed by supporting greens and airy filler. “Then you want to thread in the large flowers and accent those with a few smaller flowers,” says Benzakein. “Aim for a shape that’s loose and airy, not a tight mound that looks like a lollipop.”
Hide some scaffolding
If you have a vase that’s opaque, you can either stick a small piece of chicken wire in it and poke the stems in there for extra support, or rubber band the stems together loosely below the neck of the vase.
Don’t toss that packet of flower food
Benzakein says it will make your arrangement last twice as long and keep the water from turning murky. Oh, and cut the stems right before you submerge them so they can soak up more water.
