Tips to make the best of problematic product.
By Jill Brooke
Many of us at the dawn of our careers, while attending floral design school, were told the following in very stern terms: You shall NOT complain when flowers break because your relationship with your wholesalers is EVERYTHING. This sentiment echoed in my head when I received a bunch of sub-par garden roses—a few of them broken, leaving me with barely a few inches of stem and a flower bud. Another time it was an Anemone, lovely and fragile, that just didn’t have the strength to stand up straight in a vase. Instead of bright and lively, the flower’s petals drooped and curled.
These are frustrations florists know well. After all, flowers these days are expensive. Each loss can be anywhere from $3 to $8 dollars wholesale. The resourceful among us realize that the best alternative is to take a negative situation and make it a positive.
A snapped stem doesn’t have to mean the end of a bloom’s beauty—it just changes the role it plays. In fact, some of the most charming arrangements are born from “rescues,” where a flower that’s lost its footing in the vase gains a second act somewhere unexpected. Think of it as the floral design equivalent of upcycling: no petal left behind.
For this reason, I keep a cupboard full of bud vases in all sizes. Did the stem break 3 inches, 5 inches or is it so low that I must wire it around foliage? If so, Continental Floral Greens has great choices. Then, I can place it into a round 2-inch bud vase, which features only the eye of the flower.
Believe me, these tiny bud vases have been lifesavers; I scatter them around bar tables and high tops. Not only do I buy them from Accent Decor and Jamali Garden, but I’ve also purchased them from Amazon, which sells sets of 32 for under $35. I recommend keeping a stash of bud vases in multiple colors. For an event for The Garden Club of America, I used blue bud vases to match the table’s tall blue and white chinoiserie porcelain. Another time I brought a lavender shade to a fundraiser for New York’s Bedford Playhouse where a gaggle of celebrities were in attendance.
Aside from bud vases, teacups are another easy solution. Yes, teacups. Lately, people have found them quite charming. I like to place one large flower head in a cup. Then I display it either in a bathroom or mount it in a bigger bowl full of lemons and limes. The key is to match the teacup design with the colors of your flowers.
Another clever option is to float the bloom in a shallow bowl filled with water, letting its face be the star. This works beautifully for heavy-headed roses, peonies, Gardenias or Camellias. The petals rest like a lily pad, and with a few candles or scattered petals nearby, this simple design turns into an instant centerpiece. If you have multiple short-stemmed blooms, cluster them in a low compote dish, egg cup or even a vintage sugar bowl for a tabletop jewel box of color.
A big trend right now is to literally put flowers inside a tall vase for a modern architectural look. This idea is particularly well suited for calla lilies, but many other flowers will work including sunflowers. You can wire some healthy flowers with one that is broken, and no one will know—especially if attached to larger foliage.
You can also give broken stems new life as mini bouquets. For a whimsical twist, slip them into napkin rings at each place setting for a dinner party or larger event. Additionally, a single blossom wired to a hair clip or brooch can become wearable art for a wedding or banquet. I’ve even collected broken spray roses and frozen them into ice cubes. Party goers always ooh and ah over this.
Still, when should you speak up to your wholesaler about broken or weak stems? The first time you might take it as a loss—or as one colleague put it, “take it for the team.” But if it happens more than twice, start documenting it with photos. Politely express your concerns if a pattern emerges. Many wholesalers will make it right on the next order. Just be sure to keep records of any sub-par product. Ultimately, don’t rely on a single wholesaler. If more than 7 percent to 10 percent of your product consistently arrives damaged, it’s time to find a new supplier.
Finally, another guiding principle I follow, especially as a florist. Always have a Plan B. It’s where most of life happens, after all. A broken stem is a reminder that flowers aren’t defined by stature alone. Their presence still holds power—even on a shorter scale.
