In another life, I would have been a florist. Imagine a career where you’re surrounded by beautiful, fragrant flowers, and you put together things that instantly make someone feel better. I’m sure there have been studies done about why flowers are instant mood boosters. Being well aware that I am no expert on this topic, my personal experience shows bringing florals into both the home and studio has improved my mood, helped me keep the house a little tidier (aka respect the space around me), and literally, acted as a physical reminder to stop and smell the roses.

The problem I have with putting together arrangements that involve more than one flower is, I never know where to begin. Like an artist uses different brushes to achieve their desired result, a florist must know their “tools”– flowers, greenery, and vessels, to allow creativity to flow.

My friend Chelsey recommended we tap Spruce to help us take a step back and learn about the flowers available this season, so we could get better at making our own arrangements. Thankfully, Kyle and Amy at Spruce welcomed my questions and helped curate an arrangement of flowers that provided great color, texture, design and fragrance. In selecting the florals, I wanted to make sure we chose flowers that not only worked well together but were reminiscent of spring because this beautiful time of year only lasts so long. We gotta enjoy it before the humidity and mosquitos get here, you know?

Ok! Let’s get started with our little floral lesson.

No. 1: Viburnum. A hearty plant that will act as a lovely filler and add a lot of unique texture to your vase.

No. 2: French Tulip. When I think of spring, I visualize tulips. This French Tulip had lovely cream and peach tones which helped to balance the purple florals we selected.

No. 3: Lilac. Another spring staple. Growing up our home was surrounded by mature lilac bushes that emulated the most lovely, fresh scents. Kyle, from Spruce, suggested adding this to our arrangement for its full textured body and subtle fragrance.

No. 4: Hyacinth. A thick hearty plant that gets better as it blooms open and fills out, it too has a lovely scent that works well with the lilac, without being intrusive.

No. 5: Cooney Ranunculus. This flower has a large lovely bloom that rivals the Tulip as the arrangement favorite. With almost Rose-like features and a vibrant depth of pink color, this Cooney Ranunculus added the “wow” factor to our arrangement.

No. 6: Helleborus. This flower added a darker pop of deep rich color to compliment our pastel palette. It’s delicate petals clustered together and filled any empty spaces next to vibrant blooms.

No. 7: Astilbe. With its fern-like features, we adored the Astilbe’s light pink tones and how it added just the right amount of whimsical to our arrangement.

No. 8: Allium. A flowering plant from the onion family, but still delicate and lovely enough to hold, the Allium is alongside the more sought after blooms, like the Ranunculus.

No. 9: Sweet Pea. The flower that lives up to its name. We chose the Sweet Pea for its violet color, delicate features, and light scent.

Whether you’re designing an arrangement yourself or ordering one over the phone, it can be hard to know where to start. We hope this post helps narrow down this process for you! We certainly loved working with the Spruce team, and I can’t wait for our Easter brunch this Sunday, where I plan to brighten up the table even if the ground outside isn’t quite green yet.

Photos by: Chelsey Werth