THE SECRET TO CREATING A SUMMER FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

Do you want to know the secret to creating a perfect summer flower arrangement?

Don’t overthink it.

 

Use simple, country style flowers en masse.  All one flower and color is easy, and beautiful!

Nothing says SUMMER more than these happy sunflowers, they bring their sunny colors and joyful presence into you home to make everyone happy.

 

 

If you came here for our FLORAL FRIDAY via Shirley, Pam or Mary, WELCOME!  I am so happy to have you join us on this 1st Floral Friday in August.

 

We are all sharing floral arrangements with the queens of summer flowers, SUNFLOWERS today.  Please be sure to visit all my friends for beautiful inspiration – I’ll share the links at the bottom of this post.

 

 

In this post, I’m sharing a very easy arrangement of two types of sunflowers mixed with greens and presented in an antique French confit pot.

Sunflowers, or Helianthus come in at least 70 different species! Their name comes from their likeness to the sun, with the large flower head surrounded by their enchanting array of petals. Sunflowers instantly lift the spirits of any room in your home, don’t they?

 

 

Standing in a fleld of sunflowers in Provence is magical, the sight is intoxicating.  When those sunflowers are planted in fields alongside fragrant lavender such as in the fields of Valensole, it’s spellbinding!

 

 

Sunflowers are always happy, with their bright cheerful golden or chocolate faces framed by yellow petals.

 

 

I’ll be honest with you, I am not a huge fan of yellow. {Don’t hate me!} Usually the flowers I choose for our FrenchGardenHouse are much more subtle in color.  But in the hot summer month of August, sunflowers just seem right somehow.

 

 

The cheery form and color of sunflowers make your rooms feel like they are flooded with bright, beautiful sunshine.

 

And their rich, golden hues combine beautifully with the French Country antiques we love.

 

 

 

For this arrangement, I chose two different kinds of sunflowers, one with golden yellow centers, the other with deep, dark rich chocolate centers.  The sprigs of green are cuttings from the back garden, when I can, I use what I can “glean” from the gardens.

 

 

The confit pots are new arrivals from France, I always adore the wear and missing glaze on the old, old pots used so long ago.  For me, the more wear the better, this really shows their history, doesn’t it?

 

 

I echoed the sunflowers by placing a few of them in the antique French body pitcher on the small side table next to our “new” leopard” chairs.  Mr. FrenchGardenHouse is still not a fan of those, but me? I fell head-over-heels in love with them on sight. I just need to have some time to work them into the whole scheme of things here at home.

 

 

If you follow me on Instagram, you may know that our daughter married her prince this past weekend.  I’m hoping to share a few photos of the wedding soon, for once, I didn’t take my own photos, just put away the camera to soak in every wonderful minute of the day and evening.

It’s a busy, busy time here, at your house too?  Our little people are due to arrive for a few days of fun tomorrow, I’m working on fall and holiday collections, shipments are arriving from market as well as France…all very exciting!

I don’t have much time to fuss with flowers, so  I’m very happy with my easy to make floral arrangement right now.

 

 

 

When the sunflowers start to droop a little, I’ll move them {water and all} to the sideboard in the kitchen to let them dry.  Once the water is all gone, they should be dried to perfection, ready to use in the fall in displays and potpourris.

 

Be sure to visit my friends by clicking on their name links:

 

PAM at Everyday Living

 

SHIRLEY at Housepitality Designs

 

MARY at Home Is Where The Boat Is

 

LIDY at FrenchGardenHouse

Do you adore yellow? Sunflowers? Love the way they look in summer?

à bientôt

 

27 thoughts on “THE SECRET TO CREATING A SUMMER FLOWER ARRANGEMENT”

  1. Oh those sunflowers perfect in those amazing confit pots….perfect combination…One day I shall call a confit pot for my own…..I loved the peek of the sunflowers in the French pitcher sitting next to your wonderful leopard chairs…yes, I think my hubby would have the same reaction…..Have fun with your “Little People”!!…Have a fabulous day and weekend!…and yes, I so love sunflowers!

    1. Shirley, you are always so sweet….I am busy but having a wonderful time with my little people! We are headed out for a fun day, but wanted to say thank you first for always being so encouraging. Love sharing Floral Friday with you friend. xo

  2. Like you I’am not a huge fan of yellow but love the arrangements you’ve made with the sunflowers,it feels like summer.
    Enjoy your weekend with your little people.

    1. Thank you Anja! I hope you get some respite from all that heat you have been having…Happy weekend!

  3. Sunflower love Lidy, yes, I can’t help but smile when I see sunflowers, a guaranteed mood lifter! The photo of the field of sunflowers in Provence with the lavender in the background takes my breath away. I’m wild about your leopard chairs and the aged beauty and patina of your French confit pot. I’m so glad to hear you were able to put your camera away for your daughter’s wedding and enjoy the festivities. I hope your grand girls enjoy their time at “Camp Oma”;) It’s a pleasure to join you for Floral Friday!

    1. Mary, they are a mood lifter, aren’t they? Their happy big faces framed by those yellow “rays” are so sunny. It’s always a treat to join you Mary, on our special Floral Fridays. xoxo

  4. Hi Lidy I laughed out loud when you said you’re not a fan of yellow. For some reason I always feel bad when I tell people that I do not like yellow flowers – it seems that so many people do! (i.e. what’s wrong with me)But there are three flowers that are allowed to be yellow: sunflowers, daffodils and buttercups. NOT roses, chrysanthemums,daisies, or anything else! Sunflowers are the boldest and cheeriest of all flowers and are definitely allowed to be yellow. I love how you put them in that earthenware pot — easy as pie and just sooo gorgeous and effective. Am going to pop over to Instagram to see the wedding pics. Happy weekend! <3 Jeanne

    1. Jeanne, I agree with you!! Sunflowers, daffodils and buttercups..those are my three yellows too. Happy weekend, friend! xo

  5. Penny at Enjoying The Simple Things

    The sunflowers look wonderful in the confit pot! Love the touch of lavender and the breadboard as well!

    1. Thanks so much, Penny! I hope you are having a gorgeous Friday, friend!!

  6. Thank you so much Penny! I hope you have a cheery, summery weekend, friend. ?

  7. Chris Roberts

    Love your flower arrangement . Yellow is not my favorite color also . And those confit jars . The chairs are fabulous
    Really want to get some animal print in my home .
    Really looking forward to pictures of your daughter big day .
    It I is a wonderful time to watch our children grow into adults .
    Have a great day Lidy!! Chris

    1. Chris, I hope you have a great day too! And YES on the animal prints…and the wonderful time watching our children grow into adults. Happy Friday, friend!

  8. Lidy, I love sunflowers as stand-alone flowers! They certainly make a statement! I am swooning over the patina on the confit pots, the perfect vessel for the happy sunflowers! I love the leopard chairs, I think a little animal print is always stunning in a room. I can’t wait to see the wedding photos…so glad you were able to just take in the moments without your camera. I love spending Floral Friday’s with you my friend!!

  9. Pam, thank you! I agree, if ever there was a flower able to “stand alone” the big, bold sunflower is IT! Thank you for loving my leopard, a little animal brightens up every room, doesn’t it? {I love yours}

    It’s such a blessing to spend our Floral Fridays with you, friend. Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

  10. Sandra

    I LOVE your leopard chairs! I’ve been amazed the animal print trend has lasted as long as it has–and thankful that there is no sign of it going away! LOVE!

    1. Sandra, I think animal prints are by now a “classic” – that’s the word I’m using with the reluctant Mr. FrenchGardenHouse, anyway. 😉

  11. I, also am not a fan of yellow, but I would give my eye teeth to find a mustard hued confit pot! Loved everything in your Post! Will now follow your talented self~.

  12. Lidy, I always say the same thing in landscape gardening… planting en masse makes such a better visual impact, and you’ve done that beautifully with the sunflowers in the confit pot. I think of pairing yellow and purple in the springtime, mostly with pansies and then daffodils with hyacinths, then irises. But this look is a more sundrenched coloring of yellow and purple with the sunflowers and lavender, and I quite like it!
    When we traveled across the US a couple years ago, we passed fields and fields of sunflowers throughout South Dakota, grown commercially. They were gorgeous! Yellow is a color I do like (no hate from me), so this week’s arrangement was appealing for me personally. And hey, it looks really BN good with leopard. ?

  13. Rita, whether gardening or arranging flowers, I agree with you that en masse makes a bigger impact! I love fields filled with sunflowers, they look so happy, and so right, somehow, don’t they? I’m letting Mr. FGH know you personally said that yellow looks good with leopard. {I think pretty much everything looks great with leopard!!} Happy weekend wishes for you friend. xo

  14. Lidy,
    Yellow is not my favorite color either, along with any of the citrus colors (orange, lime green…), but I am spellbound when I see a cultivated field of sunflowers growing with their faces in unison tilted toward the sun. After seeing large fields of them in Provence, I spotted a large field in Texas. We stopped and photographed the ones in Provence and in Texas. The past couple of weeks I saw clumps of wild sunflowers growing in disturbed areas around large construction sites near my house in Texas. I think I will go foraging and gather some of the wild sunflowers for my weathered pine dining table.

    Thanks for the inspiration,

    Judith

  15. Gloria

    I planted sunflowers for the first time this year. I love love them. Easy to grow and the amount of bees and variety of birds it attacks give hours of peering out the window. Them truly do bring a smile to your face when you look at them.

  16. Hi Lidy,
    I love Sunflowes, and have been to Provence and seen both Sunflower and Lavender fields. What amazing
    color. I decided to do my kitchen in a Provence theme, and wallpapered the walls in a sunflower yellow, with a border of sunflowers and lavender bouquets displayed in Provence Pottery. I also had some Provence pottery and linens, sent back to the States from my trip, but I didn’t see the Confit pots while I was there. My pottery is a beautiful gold color, and I do display some sunflowers, tall cinnamon sticks, and olive branches in the pottery. I also have some colorful roosters, and a French Gardening boot filled with sheaves of wheat. I love my Provence kitchen. It is bright and cheerful.

    Hope your daughters wedding was a wonderful event, and that everyone had a fabulous time, especially the bride.

  17. Thank you so much, Janice, the bride was radiant. Your kitchen sounds so beautiful, and so French Country! I’m sure I would love it.

  18. Lidy: I am catching up with reading this morning and do forgive my tardiness. Your post is lovely and the sunflowers in the Confit pot is wonderful. I agree that sunflowers are such happy flowers. They add much in the garden or to any room they may be placed.

    Love the leopard chairs!

  19. Mary Emanuelson

    Your arrangement brought back memories of when were stationed in Germany (the Schwabisch Hall area) and summer there. Fields of sunflowers were lovely to see. And although not cultivated (I think), there was an open area next to us that was a mass of buttercups. I used to pick masses of them and put them in a crystal vase and they looked wonderful!

    Thank you for such a nice posting.

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