In our humble opinion, there are few things in the world quite as lovely as a vase of fresh-cut peonies.
Because – well, first of all, there’s no better color in the world than pink, right? And two, a bunch of peonies tightly packed into a vase—with their rounded, voluptuous, and layered blooms—are super eye-catching.
That said, knowing how to arrange peonies in a vase does take a dash of knowledge and skill. Peonies’ biggest strength (their voluminous blooms) is also sometimes their biggest weakness—at least when it comes to arranging peonies, that is.
In fact, if you don’t take the necessary precautions, then you might see your peonies face some life-shortening difficulties that take away from their ridiculous inherent beauty.
But don’t worry too much! We’re going to tell you how to throw together a thoughtful, head-turning peony arrangement so that not only will they live a long and fruitful life, but they will also wow everyone who sees them.
Arranging Your Peonies in a Vase
Step 1: Get Your Hands on Some Fresh Cut Peonies
The first step of knowing how to arrange peonies in a vase is, of course, snagging some flowers!
Whether you order peonies online or snip some from your own garden, we highly recommend that you obtain them while they are still in their bud stage. We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if your peonies are already in bloom, they’ll only last a few days once put in a vase.
Step 2: Find a Suitable—and Hopefully Cool—Vase
It doesn’t take much for peonies to show off their stunning beauty, so finding an adequate vase for them to strut their stuff shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Sure, you can always look for an interesting vase to house them in, but first and foremost, make absolutely sure the vase you choose offers enough support for your peonies’ stems. Their blossoms are extremely top-heavy, remember?
So once you’ve found a vase, fill it halfway with cool water and drop in some flower food to give your peonies a nutritional boost.
Step 3: Prep Your Pretty Little Peonies For Vase Life
So you’ve snagged a handful of budding peonies. Nice! Now, you’ll want to prepare them for their new life in a vase.
First, trim off 1-2 inches from the bottom of their stems at a 45-degree angle while holding them underwater. This will maximize the surface area of the cut ends, allowing your fresh cut peonies to absorb water more easily.
Next, pull out some handy garden shears and cut off any excess foliage that would rest below your vase’s water line. We know it removes some of the greenery from your peony arrangement, but trust us! You don’t want any harmful bacteria making it into your vase’s water or you’ll have one sick group of peonies to deal with.
Step 4: Create A Tape Grid for Support
Since, as we mentioned earlier, peonies are very top-heavy, you’re going to want to give them as much support as possible in your vase to prevent their stems from bending.
But don’t worry – a simple tape grid will do the trick. So, first, find some floral or Scotch tape, then simply tape across the top of your vase until you have a criss-cross grid. Easy enough, right?
Step 5: Get Creative
Now for the fun part! We aren’t going to tell you how exactly to arrange your peonies, or what other flowers or colors to include because, well… that’s completely up to you!
Everyone has their own personal taste, and heck, it’s just a lot more enjoyable if you take a chance and do whatever your imagination conjures up.
What we will do, however, is give you some tips and tricks we’ve accumulated over the years as flower arranging experts that can help you create stunning peony arrangements.
- Mix and match with other flowers, but remember that peonies don’t like taking the backseat to other flowers—their ostentatious blooms always steal the show.
- Find an interesting vase, like an ornate bowl, mason jar, fishbowl, or copper pitcher that will add to your peony arrangement’s overall charm.
- If you’re yearning for some much-needed contrast, add herbs, branches, twigs, filler plants, or other greenery to your arrangement.
- Sometimes a monochromatic peony arrangement is just as spectacular as a mixed flower or mixed color arrangement.
- Let the tone of the occasion or your mood dictate your vase of peonies’ overall appearance.
- Don’t limit yourself to pink—peonies come in various shades of yellow, purple, blue, red, and white as well.
Step 6: Recondition Your Peonies Every Other Day
Once your peony arrangement is finished, don’t just place your vase and forget about them. Every other day, you should give them clean water to drink, trim their stems at a 45-degree angle, and give them more flower food to soak up. This way, your gorgeous vase of peonies will fresh and beautiful for a longer period of time.
Feeling like a pro on how to arrange peonies in a vase? Try out your new skills ASAP! You can learn more about arranging flowers or just peonies in general. And don’t forget to take inspiration from all the lovely, hand-curated Bouqs offered up by The Bouqs Co.
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