Create a floating bouquet of blossoms

Sunset, Fall-Winter, 1996 by Steven R. Lorton

15 MINUTES

Cut flowers are not just for indoor bouquets. Rugged arrangements can brighten a garden with their own outdoor grace and style, and create a splash of color that's especially welcome in winter or early spring when little else is blooming. Take the pansy blossoms in the photo at right, for instance. They float in a water-filled ceramic pot, which sits on a garden bench. The wide-rimmed pot beautifully frames the blossoms and their shimmery water backdrop. The bench raises the pot so you can see the blossoms up close as you stroll by.

Displayed in a cool, lightly shaded part of the garden, the pansies can last a week or so in water. And picking pansies, at the same time you're removing faded blooms from the plants, keeps more flowers coming.

BEST BLOSSOMS FOR FLOATING

Look in nurseries for blooming pansy plants in 4-inch pots to take home and pop into containers or plant along walkways or at the edges of raised beds. Offerings are wide, from the rich colors and panda faces of classic varieties to the soft pastels currently popular with hybridizers. 'Accord Mix' and 'Universal Mix' pansies float in the pot shown. Choose 'Accord Mix' for large, abundant flowers on short stems (allowing blossoms to stand up well in spring rains). For earliest bloom and intense colors, look for 'Universal Mix'.

Azalea and camellia blossoms also float beautifully in water.

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