22 Ways to Add Flair to the Fourth with Fresh Flowers

It’s easy to get excited about a summer holiday when you can relax by a pool or fire up a barbeque grill. Like fireworks exploding in the sky, fresh flowers on the table can add a burst of excitement, color and fragrance to every July Fourth celebration!

Flowers and the Fourth go together like picnics and parades when you use these 22 ideas:

1. Think of the many ways your customers might spend their holiday. Create some ‘grab and go’ designs that go along with those activities.
2. Offer wrapped flower bundles that can be given as hostess gifts.
3. Add flair with natural materials like the OASIS™ Midollino Sticks in Red and 5" ECOssentials Cylinder in Poppy as shown in this design.
4. Remind customers that whether it’s for a party buffet or a picnic in the park, a stress-free centerpiece goes well with their stars and stripes. Add a small, patriotic flag to the flowers and they’re ready to go.

When using fresh flowers outdoors …

5. Feed the flowers to help them stay fresh. In addition to using flower food in your shop. Provide CRYSTAL CLEAR® Flower Food 300 Packets to customers for home use. Mist finished arrangements with Floralife® Finishing Touch Spray to help hydrate and protect the petals.
6. Choose fresh flowers that can beat the heat. Sunburn, summer heat or lack of water can wilt even the sturdiest of flowers and plants. The flower’s age is a key factor. The fresher the flower, the less likely it is to wilt.
7. Suggest hardy red flowers such as carnations, mini carnations, anthurium, celosia and gerbera daisies. Red can also be added to designs with products like this ESSENTIALS™ Square Bowl and 1/2" OASIS™ Flat Wire as shown in this photo.
8. Recommend enduring white flowers like alstroemeria, chrysanthemums, daisy or cushion poms, montecasino and gladiolus. Whites can turn brown quickly when exposed to hot sun, keep them hydrated.
9. Offer robust blue flowers including agapanthus, bachelor’s button, delphinium, eryngium and hydrangea (if well hydrated). Sometimes the selection of blue flowers can be limited.

No blue flowers available?

10. Add blue food coloring to the water in a vase.
11. Wrap a blue bandana, ribbon or fabric around a vase and secure it in place.
12. Spray a vase with OASIS™ Colour Regen, Opaque, Blueberry color spray.
13. Encircle a container with rings of OASIS™ Aluminum Wire, Blue for accent.
14. Fill a vase with blueberries, place flower stems in 4-3/4" OASIS™ Pointed Water Pick and insert them into the design.

Offer these quick and easy tips to customers

15. Taking a road trip? An old thermos can be repurposed into a retro flower vase for a campout or picnic. Fill it with flowers for an arrangement that’s easy to travel with.
16. Dinner on the patio? Fill a Bubble Ball with water and float fragrant white gardenias in it. The gardenias will turn a pretty pale yellow in the heat. Surround the bowl with a few festive citronella candle votives to brighten up the table and banish the bugs.
17. Prefer plants? Mix a collection of plants that have red, white and blue blooms in a basket for long-lasting centerpiece. A nice pot of red geraniums in full bloom is another traditional summer favorite.
18. Not feeling the red, white and blue? Celebrate with fresh flowers in your favorite color combinations.
19. Use more delicate flowers indoors. Lilies and orchids are long lasting flowers but direct heat or sunlight can be damaging to their soft petals. Drop these faves in a Grace Vase filled with fresh water to place on an indoor table.

Mix fruit and flowers for a fresh look

20. If life gives you lemons, make a refreshing centerpiece. Place one smaller glass cylinder inside another larger one. Slice the lemons and place them in the opening between the two layers of glass. Fill the center vase with water and drop fresh flowers in.
21. Watermelon on their menu? Suggest clients keep the bowl-shaped rind intact and recycle it into a floral container. Fill a small LOMEY® Design Bowl with wet OASIS Floral Foam. Add fresh flowers. Your customer can purchase the arrangement and place it in the rind for their centerpiece at home.
22. Salute with strawberries. To top off an arrangement with a pop of texture and color, insert a bamboo skewer to each berry. Place the other end of the skewer into the wet OASIS Floral Foam. This adds length. Now the strawberry can be showcased resting on top of the other flowers in the design.

Photograph your holiday designs in advance. Post the photos on your website, social media and in an email to your customer list, letting clients know you can add flair to their festivities. What celebratory ideas will you share with your customers?