Elevate basic bouquets with tips from a Biloxi professional

There they sit in the cooler near the bagged lettuce and other produce, or maybe in buckets of water nearby — Gerbera daisies, chrysanthemums, roses, carnations. Pretty but basic.

Grocery store bouquets are handy and readily available, but how do you make them look more like a custom design while staying within budget?

Just look outside.

Jim DelPrince, floral design specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Biloxi and an associate professor, recently gave some grocery store bouquets a fancy boost with some unexpected touches he found on and near the grounds of the Extension Service as well as some leftover accents from other projects.

DelPrince, who has worked with Mississippi State for 19 years, teaches classes to amateur designers as well as professionals.

One of the first steps is to give your grocery store flowers as much TLC as possible.

“You want to recut the stems and put the flower food in the water. That’s the powder in the packet that comes with your flowers,” he said. “Be sure you’re cutting your flowers with a knife. Scissors will pinch the stems and reduce water conductivity.”

If the flowers look a little tired after their trip home, just put them in water while you complete the arrangement to refresh them.

Medium-sized arrangements

DelPrince began with a medium-sized arrangement in a moss-covered rectangular basket made in Mississippi. Asiatic lilies and spray chrysanthemums are the stars in this grouping, in which he placed a well-moistened piece of florist’s foam. The flowers’ stems were lightly whittled to gentle points for ease in insertion.

“When you have lilies like these, remove the anthers; just cut them off just below the pollen,” he said, referring to the pollen-laden part of the stamen. “Otherwise, they’ll shed pollen and the stains can get on fabrics.”

Dusty miller adds frosty greenish-gray color as well as texture, and the smooth, shiny green leaves of a camellia bush make an unexpected appearance.

“Camellia foliage is great in floral design. People always think of the blooms, but the foliage is wonderful, too,” DelPrince said. “It’s a great textural accent.”

Fuchsia-colored plumed celosia adds “a nice pop of bright color” to the finished arrangement.

Small arrangements

For a small arrangement, DelPrince is fond of ivy bowls.

“Ivy bowls are sold in dollar stores and are so versatile,” he said. “You can cover them with burlap to give them a more rustic look, too.”

In this arrangement, DelPrince used the Asiatic lilies — fully bloomed as well as buds — and spray chrysanthemums. This one also got a charming conversation piece: a sweetbay magnolia pod just beginning to expose its shiny bright red seeds. Foliage is supplied by Israeli ruscus that came with the roses.

Large arrangement

A large arrangement calls for more drama, and that was supplied by alstroemeria, Gerbera daisies, standard chrysanthemums, roses and carnations, with lily grass (or liriope), princess feather and corkscrew willow coming in from the yard. Gunnii eucalyptus was a leftover from a previous project, but DelPrince says MSU is looking at the flowering plant.

“Tests are being done at Mississippi State to see if we can grow gunnii eucalyptus here,” he said. “We grow the lily grass, or liriope, here in Mississippi all the time, and corkscrew willow is an easy plant to grow; just keep it away from a building. It can grow up to 20 feet tall, but it’s relatively short lived. The ornamental grasses are from our parking lot.”

Don’t have the specific plants growing in your yard? Just use your imagination. Keeping the size of your arrangement in mind, look for foliage and other accents that will add texture, visual interest or an element of surprise.

“Step back and look,” DelPrince said. “That’s how you’ll know you’re through, if there are no gaps and it looks complete.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Elevate basic bouquets with tips from a Biloxi professional."