Best Way to Choose Herbs for Flower Arrangements

Many herbs are obvious candidates for flower arrangements. Fragrant roses growing in the garden beg to be cut and brought indoors. The sunny, round flowers of calendula come in varied shades of yellow and orange. Feverfew’s abundant, dainty white daisies make excellent filler flowers. The tousled mops of bee balm may be red, lavender, or shades of pink, depending on the variety. Yarrows have flat-topped flower clusters and come in many wonderful shades of yellow, gold, and rose to brick ted, as well as the basic white.

The pink flowers of Joe Pye weed and its relatives can anchor a large, late-summer bouquet. The varied purples of different types of lavender look best in smaller arrangements. Cutting these flowers will not diminish your outdoor display; for most plants, cutting stimulates the production of more blooms.

Other herbs such as dill, fennel, lady’s mantle, and meadowsweet offer a more subtle beauty. Their leaves and flowers bring delicacy and grace to fresh flower arrangements while acting as a foil to bright flower colours. If you strip dill or fennel of all but the top leaves and plunge the cut stem ends into boiling water for 20 seconds, they will last 10 days or more. Try combining either one of these in an arrangement with deep carmine-pink cosmos flowers. Lady’s mantle’s delicate green flower sprays blend surprisingly well with almost all other flowers. They provide a stunning contrast to orange marigolds and combine beautifully with a cool, creamy display of white roses, white foxgloves, and masterwort (Astrantia). Refresh lady’s mantle daily with a long cold drink and it will last at least a week. The frothy white flowers of meadowsweet have a pleasing sweet vanilla scent, and its leaves release a contrasting sharp pungency when crushed.

Aromatic leaves can be used as greenery, though you will have to rub the leaves gently to enjoy their fragrance, heathery southernwood is perhaps the most pungent. Mints last well in arrangements; the variegated leaves of ginger mint and the fuzzy greyish leaves of apple mint are particularly attractive. Leaves of lady’s mantle are not aromatic, but their beautiful, bold shape enhances any arrangements.