Veggie Flower Arrangement

I have been wanting to create a floral arrangement incorporating vegetables for a while now.  So, with the good weather and the wonderful availability of fresh vegetables, I decided to go for it.  I was further encouraged  to experiment this week because Market Basket was having a great sale on roses.  The price was $5.99 for a dozen.  Can't go wrong with that incentive!!

I'm showing you the final product because the "how-to photos" are not very pretty :)

I started by soaking a brick of oasis and placing it in a mixing bowl.  Next, I placed the bowl in my red colander.  The holes of the colander necessitated the use of the bowl.  (As if I had to say that!)

Here are my "ingredients"; a dozen red roses, 5 white snapdragons, a bag of black grapes, a bunch of radishes, parsley, carrots and Swiss chard.

I balanced two bunches of grapes on either side of the colander by tying them together with some plastic coated multi-purpose wire (purchased at the Christmas Tree Shop).  Isn't this a cool idea?  I discovered it in an old floral arranging book I borrowed from the library.   

Next, I draped the carrots over the top of the colander.  I tied the wire that held the carrots together to the wire of the grapes to make the carrots stay in place.

Then, I added a small bunch of parsley to hide more of the oasis.

Next came the Swiss chard.  I tucked the stalks of the chard under the wire of the grapes.  This exposed the red color of the stalks towards the front and left of the arrangement. The leaves of the Swiss chard filled in the back of the arrangement, adding more coverage to the oasis and a base for where the roses were going to go.

I placed a batch of radishes on top of the parsley and it was starting to come together.  From this point on I was engrossed in the floral arranging and forgot to take photos!!  It's an "in the moment" kind of thing!  Maybe it's OK to leave a little mystery to the whole process :)

However, you can see I gathered all the white snapdragons together on the left side of the arrangement...

and the red roses on the right side.  I ended up only needing 11 of the 12.  One was left to use separately in a little vase next to my kitchen sink.  A nice little bonus.

 I love these colors together!  I think the "black" grapes really pulled everything together.

 The red of the roses was just right for where I wanted to use the arrangement.  I was glad I had decided on red.  Market Basket had had cream roses with pink-tinged edges that were gorgeous but, they wouldn't have looked as nice with the vegetables I chose for this design.

 I added this picture because it showed the carrots.  For some reason, they didn't appear very often in the photos even though I think they add much to my design.

So, there you have it~~ my veggie flower arrangement.  This design works really well with summer approaching.  Much of our time is spent outside and everything is so organic.  This centerpiece just fits!!

As you can see, the colors of the vegetables and flowers coordinate perfectly with my outside patio deck.  (Of course, I planned it that way!)

I have to tell you--I loved working with veggies and flowers.  Fresh vegetables have such vibrant colors and as a designer, I found the textures of the flowers and veggies really fun to play with.

Maybe for your next BBQ or wine party you can give this a try!

Linking up with:
FindingSilverPennies
ThoughtsfromAlice
Loveofhome