Remember when I shared my first of the year flowers a little while back (a sweet monthly gift from the hubs)? You may recall that they had a bit of New Year’s sparkle thanks to a cake stand full of gleaming silver ornaments for take one, and a few weeks later I remixed them with less of a holiday slant since we were well into January at that point.
Well those inexpensive grocery store blooms lasted for pretty much all of January but then February got the best of us and before we knew it we were blinking our eyes and it was almost March- and we still hadn’t purchased any February flowers. So while food shopping on the last weekend of the month we made sure that a bouquet made it into our cart as well.
And we really got a lot for a little this time. We spent just $4.99 and I got five different bouquets out of the deal. This time around I was drawn to a bunch of pretty pink carnations and they went such a long way that I’m convinced they might just be my favorite flower ever. Plus they notoriously last a while so that should mean weeks of enjoyment on my part. Oh happy day. Here’s the first bouquet of pretty pink carnations adding endless sweetness to my desk near the window:
And here are three more smaller bouquets happily residing on the window ledge in the kitchen in a few cheap-o Ikea vases I had laying around. Gotta love that they look just as good in crisp white bud vases as they do in the similarly toned pink vase on my desk.
Here’s our little bonus bouquet, made mostly from shorter buds and flowers that were snipped off to make the rest of the arrangements (determined not to waste a single bloom I grouped them in a small glass candle holder in the half bathroom). They should all be blooming even more in just a few days.
All five bouquets (which happily rung in at less than a buck a piece) certainly add a cheerful spring vibe to three different rooms of our house. It’s just so nice to have a splash of pink in a few of the spots that I frequent every day. It’s funny that we keep falling behind on our monthly bouquets since every time I finally get my mitts on them I’m smitten with the amazing (and super cheap) upgrade that they add to any space. What are you guys drawn to these days when it comes to flowers or indoor plants? Anyone bringing home pretty potted tulips and daffodils yet? Anyone else enamored with roses these days (especially after V-day a few weeks back)? Spill it.
Wanna see our first grocery store bouquet from last January? Itching to check out February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September too? Just follow the links for some pretty sweet cheap-o (and even free) bouquets.
Shawna says
I LOVE carnations! They are my favorite flower.
Jana says
I’m a florist and alstroemeria lilies are a great inexpensive flower that last forever. A good tip is to pinch off the foliage, because it goes bad before the blooms.
Lately, I have been all about taking home a few hyacinth blooms in a borrowed vase. They made the house smell heavenly!
Dana @ House*Tweaking says
First, I think it’s hilarious that you call grocery shopping “food shopping.” Is that a NY or Virginia thing? Your bouquets are too sweet and the little touch of pink looks happy. At some point, you should add an aloe plant to your houseplant arsenal (if you haven’t already). I’m not sure that they purify the air so much but they are great for first-aid: cuts and burns. My boys (ages 5 and 1) think it’s so cool that a plant can heal boo-boo’s. It takes their mind off the pain too watching me cut a sprout open and getting to the gooey stuff. Just something to think about for your impending beanette. I love your houseplant posts!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! That’s my Jersey girl coming out. Nice catch. Too funny.
And thanks for the aloe plant idea. We definitely have to add it to our plant arsenal.
xo,
s
carrie waller says
I just purchased some Alstroemerias for $4.95 and was able to make three medium arrangements and one small one for the master bedroom bathroom. I LOVE THESE FLOWERS!! Thanks for sharing this post! I’m new to your blog (about three weeks now,) and I love it! :)
BungalowBride says
I forced paperwhite bulbs last month & it was so easy! Took 3 preforced bulbs, river rock I already had & a plain white ramekin. 4 days & I had gorgeous blooms with amazng scent that perfumed the whole condo. For $3! & the best part was introducing my niece to how plants grow. So much fun & a breath of spring in this endless winter. I love scented flowers – my wedding bouquet was full of lily of the valley, sweet pea, stephanoitis & roses. Flowers in the house are such a simple indulgence.
megan says
Love fresh flowers in the house…I’m excited about spring because we just planted 2 camelias, which have beautiful rose-like blooms, and I can’t wait for our hydrangeas, gardenia, rose bush, and azaleas to start blooming so I can just go cut a few blooms for free!
And, I live in the rose capital of the WORLD (Tyler, TX), so roses by the dozen are so cheap here…(you can get a dozen for about $2.50)
Sarah says
Love that you guys always have flowers in the house. Your posts are such a good reminder that it doesn’t have to be expensive to treat yourself. My favorite blooms so far this year were a beautiful bulb garden my best friend sent me for my January birthday I live in Minneapolis and they were the first live thing I’d seen in a long time. The gorgeous daffodils, tulips, hyacinth and crocus bloomed in waves for two weeks! What a great gift!
The Virginia House says
Fresh flowers are the best way to bring sunshine into any room. I miss all the beautiful spring flowers and azaleas in VA! Not too much longer and you all will be enjoying them. (we have some great stuff in TX too, just not like home ;-))
jja says
I got just yesterday from a friend some yellow and pink tulips :-). But how you manage to have your flowers for so long? I change the water, cut the edges etc. but still no more then a week. This for flower from a real flower shop, if I buy at supermarket it will last only couple of days and it is exspensive (Germany).
YoungHouseLove says
Hey jja,
We don’t have any big flower secrets at all. We just try to remember to refresh the water as much as possible, cut the stems on an angle, and add that flower powder packet if they provide one. We’re also probably lucky because sometimes the cheap flowers (carnations, alstroemerias, etc) last the longest whereas more delicate and covetable flowers (roses and tulips) might not go the distance. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Beth says
Here’s how I try to stretch fresh flowers. Lately the grocery store has had “seasonal” bunches for $14.95. For me that was pricey for flowers that will die in a few days. Then I started to really look at what flowers were in the bunches. Either there’s a very smart florist or they don’t realize what they are doing, but they’ve included flowers with different “shelf lives,” not to mention a good amount of flowers. There are enough for at least two medium vases. So, I split them and as things die I take them out. Usually by the end of the first week the two medium vases are ready to be incorporated into one. A few days later I might have just one or two single blooms but even that adds a pinch of springtime to long Ohio winters!
The last bunch I bought had star gazer lilies and sunflowers in it, which both last for quite awhile making my $14.95 bunch of flowers come out to be almost 2.5 weeks worth of beauty!
Karen says
so nice – Love it! Right now my salmon/orangy kalanchoe is making me very happy, (even tho it’s not cut flowers) blooming like crazy. It adds so much life to the room.
Amy says
I had a lovely batch of pink stargazer lilies a while back that lasted over 2 weeks. Lilies are definitely my favorite flower and at $8.99 a bunch it’s not a bad deal.
Usually we’ll grab a bunch of alstromeria or gerbera daisies. The tulips are looking lovely though.
We have a local grocer that also does 3/$15 so we can get a good variety of seasonal blooms and have multiple smaller arrangements in the house.
This year we’re planning on growing a bunch of our own flowers, herbs and veggies on our balcony. It will look like a bontanical garden out there if I can get everything to grow properly.
One helpful tip, when you cut the flowers, cut them underwater so air doesn’t get trapped in the stem. It will make them last a lot longer. We’ve had carnations last an entire month (with changing the water and what not). Also helpful if you don’t put them near a heat source.
YoungHouseLove says
Great stem cutting trick Amy! Thanks so much for sharing.
xo,
s
Claire says
We currently have 5 chic little arrangements sitting around in our house thanks to my grandfather’s recent 100th birthday party. I was in charge of the flowers and I got 200 stems for $78! I used glassware I got from the dollar store. The ones in my house have 8 roses each in them that are snipped down to 2″ stems and grouped together in a shallow 5″ diameter round dish. I wrapped bear grass around the edge of the dish to cover up the stems and added a few river rocks in there. They weren’t as inexpensive as your arrangements but they still look gorgeous well over a week later! Bonus- the cats don’t seem interested in muching on them which is normally was deters me from buying fresh flowers and indoor plants!
Caitlin @ That House on The Corner says
I always love these posts! I’m flower obsessed, like really. Great work!
I just did a post on my blog about the flowers I snagged from the swap meet as well as from my parent’s peach tree. Check it out, I’m sure you’ll enjoy:
http://thathouseonthecorner.blogspot.com/search/label/flower
it even includes the fate of my forced bulbs from your tutorial on paper-whites :-)
Enjoy!–Caitlin
Amy Endler says
Love carnations. Most underappreciated flower in my opinion! They look great bunched like that and so cheap! My mom planted some in her yard in NJ and look beautiful and then she always has fresh cut ones in her home.
Steph says
Hubby bought me tulips and an orchid for V-day. The tulips were beautiful but were cut down after they were thru blooming to be planted this November in our yard. I just love the orchid and it’s suppposed to be easy to take care of. We’ll see! I love fresh flowers around the house.
Caitlin @ That House on the Corner says
Good news! Winco has oriental lilies for $4.98 for a pot with 3 bulbs and about a dozen blooms! I was pretty excited to see these (and just had to bring them home despite having “enough” flowers) after my mom paid $15 for an identical plant from Savemart!
Phoebe S says
I usually HATE carnations, but looking at these pictures made me realize something–it’s probably the height I’m cutting them at and the vase I’m putting them in that’s made them look so boring in the past. The pink vase with pink flowers is so pretty I was surprised to realize that it was filled with my most “hated” flower. Time to readjust and give them another chance!
Lynnie says
I was in the same boat as Pheobe S & have had to reevaluate my dislike of carnations after this post.
Just picked up a bunch of super bright pink ones for €2.99 (about 4 dollars, I reckon) while doing the food shopping ;) & have just plopped them in a clear vase for now. And they look fab!