How to Make a Floral Bouquet in a Vase

Fill a large plastic bucket half full of water. Add a floral preservative according to the directions on the package. Stir the mixture with a spoon until the floral preservative dissolves.

Remove the leaves and thorns from the stems of large flowers with a stem stripper. Pull off any dead petals. Hold the end of each stem under running water and cut the bottom 1 inch of the stem off with a pair of pruning shears. Make the cut at a 45-degree angle. Place the fresh cut flower stems immediately in the bucket. Repeat this process with filler flowers and greenery stems. Leave your flowers and greenery to soak in the solution for at least one hour.

Wash your vase with soapy water. Rinse the soap out with clean water. Mix one capful of bleach with 1 gallon of water in a second large bucket. Pour the bleach solution into the vase and swirl around a few times before dumping out. The bleach will kill any bacteria in the vase that may harm the flowers. Rinse once more with clean water.

Fill the bottom 1 to 2 inches of the vase with glass rocks to stabilize the stems once they are placed in the vase. Fill the vase half full of water. Add a floral preservative at the rate specified on the package. Mix the solution until the preservative has dissolved. Place the vase on a flat work surface.

Begin adding the large flower stems to the vase one at a time. Make a grouping of three large flowers standing upright in the vase. Ensure that the height of these flowers is one and a half times the height of the vase. Trim the stems of additional large flowers to shorten their height, and place them in the vase evenly around the sides.

Add greenery stems in between the large flowers. Place the longest stems of greenery at the top of the arrangement. Trim the greenery stems that you add to the sides of the bouquet so they are shorter than the stems at the top. This will give your bouquet an evenly rounded shape. Place stems of greenery around the sides of the vase, positioning them so their tips cascade over the edge of the vase.

Add filler flowers throughout the arrangement. Trim their stems as before, placing the shorter flowers near the sides of the vase, with the taller flowers near the bouquet's top. Turn the vase constantly as you are adding flowers to ensure you have an even arrangement with a nice rounded shape.

Add additional stems of greenery to the bouquet to fill out any open spots. Turn the bouquet and observe each side to ensure that it is full. Add additional filler flowers to fill in any gaps. Place your bouquet on a low table or the floor and look at the top of the arrangement. Adjust the height and position of any stems that look out of place.