The ideal vase for every type of floral arrangement

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to flower arranging. But if you've ever struggled to arrange a bouquet at home, the issue may well be with the vase you're trying to use. 

"[The vase] is often an afterthought for people, but really it dictates the entire arrangement — the shape, the style," said Jennifer Fowlow, owner and creative director of Toronto's Wild North Flowers. Using a vessel that is the right size and shape can make it easier for you to create certain types of arrangements, and better showcase the flowers and greenery you have on hand.   

To help you pick the best vase for an arrangement — or the blooms that will look best in a vessel you already own — we asked Fowlow to share some of her tips. 

Go-tos

There's no need to purchase a specific vase, of course, and Fowlow points to many items you can use instead of a vase in a pinch: empty wine, water or liquor bottles in interesting shapes can stand in for tall vases, while bowls or sugar dishes can function as low ones. But if you are planning to invest in a vessel, she suggests selecting a tall, classic vase that's at least 10 inches in height with a three- to five-inch-wide opening. 

Fowlow also recommends using a flower frog to stabilize arrangements in a low bowl with a large opening, or airy arrangements that don't require many stems. Available in a range of materials including glass and metal, flower frogs help hold stems in place at a specific angle, and can be found at arts and crafts stores, online and even at thrift stores. While their designs vary, many are interpretations of the kenzan, a metal device covered in needles that's used in ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. "We put a little bit of, like, putty on the bottom [of flower frogs] to hold them to the vase," said Fowlow. 

Thinking small

When you use a vase with a very wide opening, the risk is that the stems may angle outward around the edge of the vase and you'll end up with too much empty space. "The smaller the opening, the less product you will need to make it seem full and the more control you will have over stem placement," said Fowlow. When aiming for arrangement with asymmetry and/or negative space (intentional gaps), vases with a smaller opening also make that easier to achieve.

Fowlow is a huge fan of bud vases with an opening of one inch or less — though she noted they may not work for thick-stemmed blooms or flowers with a heavy head. She's also a fan of vases with "negative space within the vase itself", noting that these don't require many stems for effect with the vessel adding to the architectue of the arrangement. Shaped like circles, arches and semi-circles, these vases usually don't hold a lot of water and only fit a few fresh or dried stems. "It's really great for people that are just wanting to bring a couple beautiful blooms in from their garden," said Fowlow.

Middle ground

When choosing a vase, you need to also consider how much water it can hold. "[With] tulips and a lot of those spring flowers that have really thick stems, they drink a lot of water," said Fowlow. She recommends a medium-sized, bowl-shaped vase or something with a soft, round shape that will complement the natural curves of the flowers. Fowlow noted that while a wide but shallow vessel might hold a lot of stems, it may not hold a lot of water, and therefore will require refilling more often than you might think. 

You should also make sure that your blooms have enough room to move in the vase. Some flowers like tulips will keep growing after they have been cut, said Fowlow. "Consider this when arranging them," she said. "Staggering their height, leaving them a lot of breathing room — this will all help to avoid the blooms becoming smothered and squished up against each other."

Looming large

Vessels with large openings, like the glass cylinder vases you might have held on to from past floral deliveries, can be trickier to work with at home, according to Fowlow. "They're not ideal, unless you have, like, a full bouquet already arranged," she explained. "You need the greenery to hold up the other blooms."

"[A] water pitcher can be nice," she said, as long as you consider the wide mouth, which makes them most suitable for "pretty fluffy flowers."

When working with vessels with a wider opening, Fowlow recommends using a flower frog, a tape grid placed over the opening or a ball of chicken wire if the vase is opaque. These tools allow you to make a sturdy arrangement that looks "quite nice and airy," she said, adding that a tape grid is particularly great for adding structure. "You don't need to stuff [the vase] with as much greenery and product … because the tape helps hold the shape of the arrangement." The same goes for a low bowl with a very wide opening. Fowlow suggests using a flower frog or floral foam to place "really fluffy things like hydrangeas or peonies" and create a "floral cloud" of sorts. 

"In general, the height of the vase should be about a third of the height that the flowers are going to be," said Fowlow. That goes for arranging branches too. "If you have a big branch then obviously you need … a pretty tall vessel in order for it to look proportional and not too top heavy. And you also need it weighted down." If the vessel isn't substantial enough, putting stones in the base of the vase can keep it from toppling over. 

Tip: Always take a step back

While you're making an arrangement, be sure to look at your work from different angles and distances. "[When] we're designing or teaching people in in-person workshops, we always get them to, like, put something in and then take a step back and look at it as a whole," said Fowlow. "When you're up close, you can't see the whole picture. You can't necessarily see the way the shapes should go." 

Truc Nguyen is a Toronto-based writer, editor and stylist. Follow her at @trucnguyen.