Choosing the Right Vase for Your Arrangement

A vase is like a picture frame. A good vase should complement and properly contain the image you want to create, but not overwhelm that image. To select the right vase for your arrangement, pay attention to the three S's: shape, size, and style.

Shape of the Vase
Vases are usually slender and cylindrical, but choosing a different shape can add a playful or surprising quality to your floral arrangement. Square vases are very versatile and excellent for arranging traditional bouquets without a lot of fuss. A square vase can be used to present flowers in a splayed fashion or for an open display of tightly packed eclectic blooms.

Bowl-shaped or spherical vases are useful for arrangements of floppy-headed blooms, allowing their stems to lean against the vase's sloped sides. Choose opaque materials so that the shape of your spherical vase is given prominence rather than the stems.

With cylindrical vases, tapered necks provide a minimalist look suitable for slim-stemmed flowers, while flared lips give bushy blooms more space to dazzle.

Size of the Vase
The commonest mistake made with home floral arrangements is putting short flowers in tall vases. The rule of thumb - especially for cylindrical vases - is that cut flowers should be 1 1/2 to 2 times the height of your vase.

Diameter is another important aspect of vase sizing. Don't combine slender necks with full or expansive flowers. Thin flowers are likewise dwarfed by open necked vases. If you like to have flowers around your home, your best option is to have a variety of cylindrical vase sizes on hand.

Style of the Vase
There are seven basic vase styles:

• Bottle: The bottle style of vase is narrow at the top with a tapered or hourglass body. Bottle vase arrangements should feature a few thin-stemmed flowers.
• Bud: A bud vase is designed to hold a single bloom. The simple style of this vase can be very dramatic in the proper setting.
• Cylinder: The cylindrical vase style features straight sides with no narrowing at the neck. Cylinder vases are suitable for large bunches or flowers with unique shapes.
• Pail: A pail vase is narrowest at the bottom and widens progressively toward the top. This open-topped vase style is perfect for large, lush arrangements.
• Pan: The pan vase is similar to the Greek kylix. It's a very low and flat vase style used for floating a few flower heads removed from their stems.
• Sphere:As mentioned under shape, sphere vases are bulbous or globular in appearance and perfect for confining droopy flowers.
• Trumpet: As the name of this vase style suggests, the flared lips of trumpet vases add boldness and flare to dramatic floral arrangements.

Vase Arrangement Tips

• Always have enough flowers in your vase. Under-stocked vases look desolate, not decorative.
• Vases made from clear glass or plastic will put maximum focus on your flowers.
• Avoid vase colors that will distract from your flowers. The more colorful the flower, the more neutral the vase should be.