How to Use Flowers Around the Home

For the more romantic households, February can mean an influx of colour as Valentine’s Day flowers brighten up the home and add uplifting greenery to any room.
But so many of us allow our Valentine’s Day gifts to hide on the kitchen windowsill or in a conservatory, missing out on the huge potential of these welcome gifts to add colourful flourishes to our rooms.

If your partner is kind enough to buy you roses this year, there are hundreds of wonderful ways to use their iconic looks to decorate your home. For example, take an elegant glass bowl or a large vase, fill it with water and scatter rose petals around floating scented candles to achieve an exceptional sensory focal point for your living room or bedroom.
Roses can also look spectacular when arranged with fruit, to create a delectable centrepiece for the kitchen. Simply arrange apples, peaches, oranges, pears and grapes in porcelain bowl or vase and insert the roses in between the fruit. To create an overflowing effect, try placing florists foam in the bottom of the bowl and use wood picks to attach the fruit to the foam and give the bowl a more full appearance.

Tulips are popular Valentine’s Day flowers and their vivid colours and charming long stems can make for beautiful arrangements either on their own or with other flowers.
However, it is important to keep in mind that cut tulips will droop, so if you are using them in an arrangement with other flowers, first straighten the stems by rolling them in newspaper and plunging them into cold water. Then pack them tightly in your arrangement.
Alternatively, place your tulips together in their own tall vase, with a wide rim to give them room to move around. Recondition them daily, recutting the stems and changing the water to keep them blooming for as long as possible.

Another elegant way to use your Valentine’s Day gifts is to take smaller flowers from a bouquet and make them a focal point in themselves. Some florists and homeware stores stock test tube-shaped flower vases that can hold just one or two small flowers. Half fill them with water, add a dainty selection of flowers and hang from a mantelpiece or on a wall to create a surprisingly effective look.