How To Choose The Right Vase
When it comes to how to choose the right vase, your very first consideration should be that size does matter. The length of your flower stems are a huge factor as is the height and width of your vase. Do you know your bud vase from your column vase? Understanding and appreciating the difference can potentially make or break the style it brings to your space.
There is an art to matching flowers to the most ideal vase. Finding the right one can create very effective impact, even if you only include a few stems. Vase shapes vary and differ from tall and slender thought to lower and wider shapes. Selecting a vase is a very personal choice and knowing how to best complement your floral arrangement is important.
We take a look at what types of vases are out there and how they best match the floral styling you’re looking at.
Round Vases
Often referred to as the fish bowl shape, a round vase certainly isn’t suitable for all flowers. But it can look truly admirable when filled with a striking posy of tulips or roses. Soft in shape, a round vase is quite a classic style and often has a narrow neck meaning it will hold your arrangement tightly together.
The look almost mimics holding the bunch together with your hands so it’s effective in keeping glorious shape. It’s therefore a great choice if you like to mix different types of flowers together like throwing in greenery with your stems. You’ll need to make sure the stems you’re choosing are slim as thicker stems won’t allow you to fit many inside.
To ensure your round vase and flowers complement each other, make sure you cut the stems quite short. This means the heads of the flowers will rest on the rim and form a beautiful shape up top.
Bud Vases
The absolute must-have for showcasing individual stems or cluster of petite blooms. The great thing about this style of vase is that if you don’t actually have one on hand, you can use cleaned up jam or other condiment jars to serve the same purpose. A collection of mini vases like these are a stunning way to style your dining table or kitchen bench. You can use a whole range of different flowers to create a beautiful array.
You can also use bud vases with a single stem for your bedside table to brighten your day. Or you could place one in your bathroom to add a touch of colour.
Rectangular & Square Vases
The rectangular or square vase is probably the most appropriate look for a modern interior. They look fantastic when you want to arrange single stems as the flowers have room to spread out. Square and rectangular vases look crisp and contemporary. Without a neck as such, your flowers will not be so densely structured leaving a more relaxed feel to your arrangement. Alternatively you could actually try and pack as many in as you can to create quite a close spray.
Cube vases offer clean lines and lend themselves to a more relaxed composition as well. People often style square or rectangular vases with tulips, hydrangeas or native flowers. These vase shapes seem simple but instantly add a sophisticated edge to any arrangement.
Column Vases
For the ultimate in floral arranging, we love the elegance of long stemmed flowers in a tall and slender vase. Displaying your flowers in one of these narrow vessels provides great structure and keeps everything looking sleek and controlled.
Long stems call for long vases and the two put together look striking. Column vases look best with sophisticated flowers like peonies, sunflowers or lilies. They can happily hold flower heads that are large or small in size – just make sure you’re not overcrowding and limit yourself based on thickness of stems or circumference of the heads. The beauty of columns vases is you have plenty of options to add a flurry of greenery behind your favourite stems.
Column vases will look uber chic as a pair. Pop one slightly taller than the other together or place in symmetrical designs at either end of a shelf or table.
Hourglass Vases
Wide at the bottom and narrow in the middle, the hourglass vase is the most versatile of the lot and is easily a cupboard staple. This style will suit shorter stemmed flowers with larger round heads like roses or peonies. The curvaceous design will really accentuate the shape of your favourite blooms.
The flared out top and curvy base truly make this vase the ideal shape to hold such a wonderful selected of beautiful flowers. The traditional design will add statement to any room.
Bottleneck Vases
The bottleneck vase is quite similar in design to bud vases but almost certainly larger in size. Branches and cuttings tend to look fantastic in this style and the narrow neck means it can support whatever blooms you choose to showcase. The bottom-heavy design also means mitigating away from accidental falls and offers much more sturdiness.
The narrow opening at the top means you can spread the flowers or cuttings around the bottom to create a splayed finish to your arrangement. You really don’t need many stems to create this type of statement.
Remember, House and Garden stocks a beautiful range of glass vases, ceramic vases and plenty of pots and planters. We make it easy to understand how to choose the right vase for your home and décor.
