The thing all your flower bouquets are missing

Fresh flowers always add a little something special to any room, don’t they? Adorning your home with bouquets of lush blooms is one of the easiest ways to freshen up a space, add a pop of color and instantly make any occasion celebratory.

Have you ever noticed, though, how the larger your bouquet, the harder it is to arrange? 

Long-stemmed flowers want to droop, fall on top of one another or fall right out of the vase. Here's what all your bouquet endeavors have been missing:

Flower frogs are the perfect example of ‘vintage’ items that never go out of style. Why? Because if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

These handy little gems (usually) sit on the bottom of your vase and ensure that every single one of your blooms and stems stand upright and exactly in place. They’re typically made from heavy materials like glass or various metals. You’ll see them in one of two forms; giant clusters of small, slim spikes; or perforated with many holes, each about a quarter of an inch in size. My personal preference is the latter.

To arrange your first-class bouquet, simply place the flower stems into the holes of the frog, or, if you’re using the spiked version, press the stems into the spikes. I like to work from the center, out.

 

See how the flower droops before we use the frog?

After using the flower frog: Now the flower stand beautifully upright!

Voila!

Never before have your bouquets been so full and stunning; fit for any magazine spread!

If you’ve never had the opportunity to use a flower frog, but you’re eager to try, you’re in luck. You can find them in droves at any given antique fair, shop or market.  Check out places like Ebay, Etsy and Amazon too. Some of the really nice ones act as both frog and vase, like the one shown below, which happens to be one of my mothers. She snagged it at the Brimfield Antique Show last year. As a bonus, they’re very inexpensive; definitely worth the minimal investment for such a magnificent return.