Strawberry Jar Arrangements

Use this planter with pockets to display colorful cut flowers.

If you're tired of working with the same old vases, try this easy arrangement. Though the container is made to hold strawberry plants, it can also serve as a neat vase. Flowers and foliage displayed from the top and sides create a well-rounded arrangement with vertical interest.

Getting Started

Strawberry jars come in many sizes and shapes. Most are terra-cotta, but occasionally you can find shiny and colorful glazed versions. For our arrangement, we used a small 2-gallon terra-cotta planter.

In the summer, try to cut flowers early in the morning before the temperature rises. Blooms look their best after a long cool night of recovery. If you can't cut flowers in the morning, clip them late in the evening as the sun is setting. Flowers harvested during the midday heat will be stressed and may wilt. When cutting, always have a bucket of water by your side so the stems can be immersed quickly. Use sharp clippers, garden scissors, or a knife to harvest the flowers. Dull blades can crush or tear stems and damage plants.

We cut zinnias that were growing in the garden, leaving the stems as long as possible. Then we clipped long, arching leaves and a few fluffy seedheads from maiden grass for interest.

Arranging Flowers and Foliage

Place a small jar filled with clean water in the bottom of the planter. The jar shouldn't be taller than the container's lowest side pocket. Before placing the flowers in the planter, strip the bottom leaves from the stems. Foliage left on the lower part of the stems will rob the blossoms of moisture. If placed in the water, leaves will also rot, creating bacteria that will clog the stems' tubes and make the blooms short-lived.

Recut the stems at a 45-degree angle, creating a larger surface to absorb water. Start placing flowers in the lower pockets of the strawberry jar, and work your way up. Make sure the cut stems go deep into the water jar. After filling the side pockets, place blooms and foliage in the top of the container. We used the ribbon-like leaves and seedheads of maiden grass to create nice lines. This foliage helped loosen up the bunched flowers. When we took our arrangement inside, it lasted more than a week.

Try this planter with pockets, and you just might like getting caught with your flowers in the strawberry jar.

CHARLIE THIGPEN

ABUNDANT OPTIONS

If you don't have flowers around your home, pick up a bouquet from the grocery store or a florist. Alstroemeria, dianthus, chrysanthemums, roses, daisies, and Dutch iris are readily available and long-lasting. Mix these flowers with foliage clipped from your yard. Add leaves from hostas, Japanese aucubas, ferns, cast-iron plants, cannas, Japanese fatsias, or ornamental grasses for plenty of texture and interest.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Sep 2004
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