How To Use Flowers When You're Entertaining Outside

As spring ends and summer starts, parties will naturally start to take place outside to take advantage of the nice weather. If you want to start hosting outdoors, you might want to incorporate flowers into your decorations. Flowers will take your party to the next level and can enhance any color scheme. Here are a few ideas about how to use flowers for outdoor entertaining.

Pitcher of flowers
Use a pitcher for your flowers for a casual, bohemian centerpiece at your next outdoor dinner party. Both colorful and plain pitchers will do the trick here — the style will have more of an effect than the color. Pitchers will look nice with big, full blooms like dahlias, garden roses, or mums.

Floating flower centerpiece
If you want to go for something a bit more elegant and romantic, consider putting your flowers in water. You can go for one low, shallow bowl that can fit both flowers and candles on the surface, or you can anchor blooms in a tall cylindrical vase that you can then fill with water. Either way, this centerpiece will look great on your outdoor table.

Incorporate flowers into food and drink
There are many edible blooms you can incorporate into both your food and drink menus. Zucchini blossoms, rose petals, nasturtiums, and chamomile can all be used in a variety of recipes. For your drinks, consider garnishing with orchids, lavender, or hibiscus.

Bottle and can vases
Instead of buying new vases to place along your table, use washed bottles and cans to hold different flowers. To show off single stems, use bottles with a narrow neck, like old olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wine, or glass soda bottles. To hold a larger bouquet or a mix of flowers, use a 28-ounce can with a label that you like. This technique can be a nice way to feature a few different types of flowers in different locations.

Written by Matt Wolf, owner of Floral Concepts in Houston, Texas, and florist on BloomNation.