Think you need access to expensive, exotic blooms in order to create beautiful DIY centerpieces? Hardly. While CreativeLive instructor and Tulipina owner Kiana Underwood is a regular at her local flower market, she also takes inspiration from her yard, frequently using in-season flowers and vines for her floral designs.
Technically, weeds are just flora that grows without being cultivated. So while the word “weed” is most often used as pejorative, it really just means an extra bit of unintended greenery…which can be truly upsetting if you’re waging a war against prickly nettles. Or, in the case of some wildflowers and other plants, could actually be a summer blessing.
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“Last week I gathered some branches and foliage from trees and bushes around my neighborhood and mixed them with some flowers from the flower mart and the results were just lovely,” writes Kiana on her blog, “It is always amazing how different floral varieties can be paired with different leaves and foliage for unique results.”
Daisies, rhododendrons, pink evening primrose, alyssum, common centaury, lantana, and even some forms of geranium grow without any kind of cultivation and flower in a variety of colors and blooms. During the spring and summer, fragrant flowers like lilacs and freesia are also abundant in many parts of the country — often near unattractive places, like parking lots and other public areas.
Kiana also frequently uses greenery from trees that grow in her yard, like plum foliage and even some kinds of ivy. Most recently, she created a DIY centerpiece using some potted plants from around her house!
“Have you ever considered making a centerpiece with just what you have in your planters or from your houseplants? Well, I did just that a little while ago. I hadn’t gone to the flower mart and I did not want to go to the grocery store. So, I took a look around my house and I decided to use some house plants combined with pansies from the planter we have on our deck, and here is what I came up with.”
For this particular piece, Kiana used common flowers like begonias and pansies, as well as lemon thyme, which is an herb.
“I think it is simply amazing what you can come up with using just a few greens and flowers,” Kiana says.
Want to learn more about creating your own DIY floral designs? Sign up for Kiana’s course, Create Meaningful Wedding Flowers, Bouquets & Centerpieces.
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