The Alternative to Vases for Flowers

Greenery In Greens

• If you want to skip a container altogether, go with a vessel made from greenery. Cover the outside of a shallow plastic tub with double-sided tape. Press tall stalks of organic material into the tape. You may choose stalks of asparagus, cinnamon sticks, bamboo, tall and thick leaves or twigs. Tie a colorful ribbon or natural hemp twine around the container to keep the pieces in place. Fill the plastic container with water and arrange your flowers inside. Shorter flowers with rather large blooms work well for these containers.

Bamboo Cylinders

• Though bamboo most commonly comes as thin canes, it can grow very large and thick. You may find late-harvested, hollow bamboo canes in craft stores and home décor shops. These canes usually range from about 1 to 3 inches in thickness, perfect for a small bouquet of flowers.

  Add gravel to the bottom of each cane to keep them upright. Try tropical flowers in the canes. You myn cluster these containers together or dot them individually around a space.

Pots and Pails

• Troll flea markets and garage sales for old terracotta pots, milk pails, watering cans and steel water pails. You may clean up these finds and add bouquets of flowers to them for an original floral display.

  Place a plastic pot without a drain hole inside terracotta pots to avoid leaking and spills. Use long-stemmed flowers with large blooms in all of these containers so the size of the container doesn't overwhelm the flower arrangement.

Glass

• Flower vases aren't the only glass vessels that can hold flowers. Fill wine goblets, brandy snifters and champagne flutes with water. Place a single flower in each for a table runner decoration or a simple addition to a windowsill. Place silk or dried blooms inside a home canning jar. You may also fill apothecary jars with miniature pine cones and gravel, slipping flowers inside so they peek prettily out of the top.