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Posted By American Meadows Content Team on Feb 2, 2018 · Revised on Oct 3, 2025
As any wildflower gardener knows, come summer there are plenty of Zinnias, Cosmos, Sunflowers, and more to cut for what seems like endless wildflower bouquets. We’re here to help turn your DIY bouquets into photo-worthy arrangements!
We'll cover:
There are a few considerations and simple tips to help turn your amateur bouquet into a professional-looking arrangement.
Before you arrange your flowers, make sure to strip any foliage from the bottom parts of the stems that will be placed directly in the water. Foliage towards the top of the stem adds interest and filler to your bouquet, but leaves and other foliage that sit in water can cause bacteria that will reduce the life of your cut flowers. You can use your hands or snips to gently remove foliage from each stem, being careful not to break or damage the stem itself.
Use your hands or scissors to strip foliage from the bottom part of your cut flower stem. This helps prevent bacteria from forming in the water which can cause the flowers to die quickly.
Don’t worry about cutting your stems to size while you’re out in the garden; it’s best to wait until you’re back inside and have your vase or other container in front of you. Depending on your vase or type of wildflower, there are several ways to size your cut flowers. Flowers with big heads (like Sunflowers) need a tall, sturdy vase or container to keep the heavy blooms supported. If you’re doing a large bouquet with a variety of different wildflowers, you’ll also want to use a tall, sturdy vase. If you have shorter flowers with smaller blooms (like Cosmos or Bachelor Buttons), you can use a short vase or even a bud vase to create your arrangement.
Place each stem on the surface next to the vase to estimate how much of the stem you'll need to cut.
The wider the opening of your vase, the more flowers you’ll need to get a full look. A tall, sturdy vase with a narrow opening can look full with just a few Sunflower stems. The same size vase with a wider opening may require 6-8 to look complete.
Stand each flower up on the surface next to your container to see how tall it will look and then use that estimate to cut your flowers to size. Remember: flowers can always get shorter, but they can’t re-grow! Always err on the side of caution when making your cuts.
The size of your container and the width of the opening will determine how many flowers you'll need for each arrangement.
If you’re making a larger bouquet or want the structure of your arrangement to be just so, use floral tape to help create a support for your flowers. Simply tape a few pieces of waterproof floral tape across the mouth of the container, spacing about an inch to two inches apart depending on the size of the vase. You will want to make a triangle or a grid to help keep the flowers in place as you arrange them.
Use floral tape to create a grid at the top of your vase. This makes arranging much easier and keeps each stem in place. If you don’t have floral tape on hand, you can use foliage-heavy varieties like Bachelor Buttons or grasses to create a natural support for your arrangement.
Another easy option for wildflower arranging is a 'flower frog', which is a small ceramic or pottery holder that has built-in supports to help hold the shape of your arrangement. Flower frogs now also come as screw-on lids for mason jars.
Although almost any wildflower is pretty enough to cut, there are some varieties that fare much better in a vase than others. You’ve probably seen these varieties in professional bouquets because they are long-lasting, come in a wide variety of colors, and most plants send up fresh shoots and flowers once cut.
Annual wildflowers in general are a great place to start, because they'll bloom just 6-8 weeks after seeds germinate! They offer long-lasting blooms that typically flower for about 2-3 months in the summer.
Although you may be tempted, stay clear of Queen Anne’s Lace and Poppies for cut bouquets. Queen Anne’s Lace doesn’t transition well from the garden to the vase and may go limp quickly. Poppies are extremely short-lived once cut, but their seed pods add a unique touch to any bouquet.
Once your Zinnias, Cosmos, Sunflowers, and more are in bloom comes the fun part -- harvesting to create your work of art! There are a few simple steps to ensure your cut flower lasts longer, and best practices to encourage the plant you're cutting from to keeps on producing flowers in your garden.
Once you’ve created your floral masterpiece, follow a few simple steps to keep the bouquet fresh longer so you can show off your hard work:
Whether you want to design a muted bouquet with pale pinks and whites or a vibrant display of fiery red, yellow, and orange flowers, the most important part thing is to be creative. You spent the time growing your own wildflowers to cut and enjoy indoors, so make sure to create something that makes you happy. And if it just happens to be spectacular enough for Instagram, there's no reason why you shouldn't show it off!
