Walking through my flower garden, I harvested every flower with any touch of yellow, and maybe some white. I thought I could make a bouquet with every yellow flowers I grew, but I couldn’t. I had WAY too many flowers harvested, even for my largest vase. In turn, I created two large bouquets, about 30 stems each. Creating this buttercream summer bouquet used buttercream sunflowers, snow on the mountain, and other light yellow and white flowers.
Sunflowers
The focal of this bouquet is branching buttercream sunflowers. Of all sunflowers, I do think these were my favorite, which is always hard to say for 100 percent. I love their paler yellow color, much like the shade of butter. They have simple petals surrounding a brown center. And I mean, I double petal sunflowers, but buttercream sunflowers I find are more calming. They have calming colors, and their structure keeps it simple.
Zinnias
There’s only one type of zinnia that really matches the buttercream sunflowers. And that is Isabellina zinnia. Her shade of yellow is a pale to light yellow. For the most part, her blooms are single petals, but some stems do produce ones with multiple layers of petals.
These seeds I purchased from MIGardener. Seed packets are only just $2, which is great for anybody keeping to a budget when buying a variety of flowers. And shipping becomes free after spending about $20, which is very reasonable.
Hydrangea
Near the bottom of this bouquet is a stem of a white hydrangea. It doesn’t take much space of the bouquet, but the color works well with the buttercream sunflowers. Once my hydrangea bush becomes larger, it will produce longer stems to use in arrangements. This will be so fun in future years when I can mix these beautiful sunflowers with some hydrangeas.
Dahlia in Summer Bouquet
My dahlias did not do the greatest this season with issues from bugs and the smoke from the large Canadian wildfires. For a home arrangement though, I was fine using the cream dahlia with its petals upon petals.
Cosmos
I really do have a love-hate relationship with cosmos. I love planting them- they’re so easy whether indoors or direct sown. I love them in every picture I take of them. I highly enjoy the double varieties like Double Dutch Rose and Double Click Mix.
What drives me crazy about them is that they don’t last super long in a vase. At times I harvest them, place them in an arrangement, and by the next day at a market, I have to snip some of the blooms.
Maybe the common ground is growing them as companion plants to the garden for the bees to flourish, and keep them for my home arrangements. Except, flower loving customers love their whimsical, wildflower feel too.
Daisy in Buttercream Summer Bouquet
One of the first flowers I ever picked were daisies. Walking through the woods at my mom’s farm, I’d come across some meadows with true Pennsylvania wildflowers, including daisies. The wild daisies were the only ones I was interested in harvesting en masse for a bouquet to take back. Their yellow centers just enthused a young tween girl on her walks and bike rides.
For growing them in a flower garden, I planted Shasta daisies, which is what my mom also had growing around her house. They’re not the same as the ones I harvest in the meadows, but it is the same beauty. They have white petals with bright yellow centers. The yellow is a bit more saturated than the buttercream hue, but pairing it with white balances the yellow to the buttercream.
Snapdragon
Snapdragons are so beautiful, even when they twist and grow at an angle. For selling snaps, the stems should be straight. But for a home arrangement, I don’t mind either way. When they are turned at an angle, I used them to add structure and texture to the lower part of an arrangement. The blooms are still lovely, and have small sweet scent to them as well.
Snow on the Mountain
I harvested EVERY stem of snow on the mountain I had growing for this bouquet. Every single one. I loved the variegation on these stems with the green mixed with the white. In the center are small white with a bit of yellow, perfect for this buttercream summer bouquet.
One tip with this stem is to hydrate them before using. Uhh, yea. I didn’t quite do this. When making bouquets for your own home, you know the stems will perk up, for the most part. It’s okay to take a risk with this for a home bouquet because if you make a bouquet that doesn’t work, then you can throw it away and try again with a different bouquet. For selling bouquets, make sure the stems get hydrated, and stay hydrated throughout the market.
The Beauty of Buttercream Summer Bouquet
This bouquet was big and beautiful, but it also had a simple elegance to it. Only one type of greenery was used, and only one focal flower was used. All the other flowers just added a bit more to this simplicity.
My favorite part is the color scheme. I LOVE yellow. My house is yellow. I married a man whose favorite color is yellow. These yellow flowers match our personality, our home, and the shade of beauty we are looking for.
