Bouquet of the Week: The Perfect Pineapple

As part of our recurring Bouquet of the Week series, Garden Collage continues to present a weekly inspirational bouquet that incorporates intriguing new elements into the traditional practice of flower arranging. This week, Garden Collage styles some interesting “flowers” together in a new kind of “vase”: Sweet Peas, Globe Thistles, and Trumpet Snap Dragon styled together in a carved-out pineapple. The perfect pairing!

With summer going strong in the city, it’s a perfect time to make fresh, fruity smoothies. When I prepared to make a smoothie recently, I looked at the carved-out pineapple and admired the structure and the interesting texture of the exterior. Why not give it another purpose and use it as a vase?

I cut off the top and emptied it, keeping the pieces for the smoothie. Often, the pineapple “shell” gets sliced during the cutting process, which creates some tiny holes. As a result, it is recommended to use a recycled paper coffee cup inside the husk– just insert it and fill it with water. After I did this, I arranged the globe thistles and the adorable sweet peas, which worked beautifully together: the rose petals and the tendrils added a spark of whimsy. I then added the trumpet snap dragons– the yellow notes picked up the gold pineapple tones and added a complimentary softness to the bouquet.

I had several flowers leftover, so I created another, smaller bouquet to which I added a bunch of lavender– another perfect compliment.

The best part is, once you’ve emptied the pineapple husk you can use the insides to make one of our favorite smoothies, below. The blackberries and maqui berry powder turn this smoothie a lovely pale purple– so does the sage, which is best sourced, as usual, from your own garden.