Native Gardener’s Corner-Member’s Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
Dan Songster offers chapter members and local experts a chance to share information on many things related to gardening with natives. The featured question for this month was:
Do you grow any native flowers with an eye for creating indoor bouquets?
Introductory Comment from Dan: I have an inkling that maybe not that many folks use native flowers in bouquets. Or that they like them so much in the garden that they can’t bear to cut them. Well, that I understand. But if picking your flowers for a long-lasting indoor bouquet can be viewed as a means of promoting more growth and a denser plant in your garden with more eventual flowers, perhaps that makes the idea more acceptable? As a gardener, it might be a win-win as you harvest flowers for bouquets while practicing an advanced form of deadheading. Let’s see what our native plant experts have to say:
Kristy Gump-“I find that Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) does well in a vase, and even wildflowers like California Poppy and Elegant Clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata) will live inside for a few days! My new favorite is the red-pink popcorn-like blooms from the Red-flowered Buckwheat (Eriogonum grande var. rubescens), which makes a great textured addition to bouquets. I also love to use Bee’s Bliss Sage not so much for the flowers but as added greenery and their lovely fragrance. And finally, Yarrow seems to last forever in a vase and even longer if you dry it out.”
Robin Huber-“Iris and Coral Bells. Not by design, just by circumstance–I have lots of each, they are reliable, bloom in time for Easter, and last in the vase a reasonable amount of time. Also, they balance one another design-wise with their color and mass.”
Sarah Jayne-“I don’t grow any plants for the specific destiny as cut flowers, but whenever I clip off a new bud or a flowery stem that’s hanging over the pathway or run over by the dog, it becomes one. Douglas Iris are long lasting inside, California Poppies close up at night but reopen in daylight. Heuchera provide an airy touch of color. One of my new favorites in a small vase is Apricot Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), pale orange with grey green leaves and long lasting. Any blooms are good for a close-up time in the house, if only briefly.”
Thea Gavin-“While I don’t grow wildflowers “only” for bouquets, I love how just a few shrub snips here and there can yield plenty of material for an impromptu vase arrangement–or even a Christmas wreath in season. A typical wreath will have Oak, Buckwheat, and Toyon for filler and feature “rosettes” of White Sage stem ends. And of course, if the Toyon happens to have clusters of ripe red berries at the right time it looks even more Christmas-y.”
Dan Songster-Woolly Blue Curls are so striking with a lovely fragrance and LONG lasting–they have to be mentioned. The annuals that have been mentioned by Kristy are all are tried and true. All the native onions like Allium haematochiton (Red-skinned Onion) and Allium unifolium (Single Leaf Onion) are unique looking and very long-lasting. White Sage stalks can be a big splash if you have a large vase (especially on an outdoor patio since the fragrance can be a touch, um…interesting?)
Matilija Poppy can be such a treat if picked just before the flowers unfurl. You can get at least several days of blossoms in a beautiful bouquet that way. (Some people recommend scorching the base of the flower stalk with a flame to help it last longer).
California Poppies can be treated the same way, brought indoors and placed in a deep blue vase!
Linda Prendergast of California Botanic Garden featured an unexpected addition to an arrangement using the nearly spent flower stalks of Black Sage (like little green pin cushions) as points of interest and clusters of California Everlasting that resembles Baby’s Breath. By the way, if you have some snips of Chaparral Holly, they make a great green to mix with the flowers. There are so many options to bring our native color or fragrance indoors.
EXTRA EXTRA!
The following wonderful article from the LA Times goes into some excellent do’s and don’t’s as well as flower choices and images of some wonderful native flower arrangements.
Here, you can watch Rob Briggs of Fullerton select flowers from his garden to create a Mother’s Day Bouquet. His two-year-old James steals the show a bit!
For those who really want to explore the art of arranging wildflowers as well as get a lesson in informal botany, check out this Youtube video from California Botanic Garden featuring the well-known native florist, Linda Prendergast. Such a relaxing hour-long presentation, packed with so much information. Lengthy, but my favorite–I got sucked into it.
Some extra reading material for those interested:
Our question for the coming July/August 2025 newsletter is: “Which natives do you love AND find do well all through each and every summer, without additional water?”
Email your responses to Dan Songster at songster@cox.net. Please attempt to keep replies brief so we can include most of the responses.
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