Big-Bloom Flowers for Small Vases

Spring

• Some of the biggest blooms of spring are bulb flowers such as fragrant hyacinths (Hyacinthus spp.), tulips (Tulipa spp.) and daffodils (Narcissus spp.). The “King Alfred” daffodil (Narcissus “King Alfred”) is one of the largest yellow trumpet daffodils, reaching 5 inches across with a 2-inch trumpet. Because these bulbs need a chilling period, they thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8, but are grown as annuals in zones 9 through 11.

Summer

• Early summer brings the large, multipetaled blooms of peonies (Paeonia spp.), whose thin stems can be cut short and put in small vases to display their 8- to 10-inch blooms. Peonies thrive in USDA zones 2 through 8. Hydrangeas (Hydrangea spp.), which grow in USDA zones 5 through 11, yield dramatically large flower clusters of blue, pink, lavender and white in late summer for small vases.

Fall

• Dahlias (Dahlia spp.) and mums (Chrysanthemum spp.) are fall stalwarts and both produce large, showy blooms on stems thin enough to fit into small vases. Dahlias, which grow from tubers, can overwinter in the ground in USDA zones 8 through 11, but should be dug and stored indoors in zones 7 and below. Mums, which provide long-lived vase flowers, thrive in USDA zones 5 through 9.

Winter

• The best way to display the winter blooms of camellias (Camellia spp.) and Christmas or Lenten roses (Helleborus orientalis) is by floating the flower in a bowl of water. Camellias, which thrive in USDA zones 7 through 10, grow on shrubby evergreen trees. Hellebores, a perennial plant for shade whose flowers often face downward, grow in USDA zones 4 through 8.