Bouquet of the Week: A German Picnic Bouquet

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 a “Simple Country Bouquet” from the hillsides of Germany.

I recently found myself in need of a simple bouquet for an intimate, late-fall dinner party in the garden that we attended while visiting friends in Germany, and I wanted to design something sophisticated and colorful that harkened to the allure of the countryside.

I enlisted some friends, and we choose one of our favorite flowers– the hydrangea– as the feature, and accented it by tucking in some cuts of the common but misunderstood carnation (which is a more useful flower than it is often credited to be), along with scarlet peonies and soft pink roses. Mixing all the jewel tones– pinks, purples, blues, and occasionally red hues– is a florist’s trick that often leads to unexpectedly gorgeous bouquets. Most people would hesitate before combining colors so close together in the rainbow, but the muted palette that only hydrangeas have– that soft pastel blue we all know and love– simply ties everything together.

On the table, we surrounded the flowers with greenery and local weeds (foraging for your flowers in another country is always fun!) and then tightly wrapped the bundle in parchment paper secured with string. The end result was simple, elegant, and paired well with votives on our rustic picnic table.