How to Arrange Tulips in a Vase

If you have been following Happy Haute Home for a while, you are well aware of my love affair with tulips.

I recently used lavender tulips for an Easter and Spring Tablescape. The setting turned out beautiful and the vintage plates look amazing with the tulip arrangements HERE.

Often times, I will use a glass to hold flowers in place and insert that glass into my container. But, I have a confession to make. When I was preparing my Spring tablescape, I didn’t put enough water in the glasses that were holding the tulips. The flowers sucked up what little water was in the glass and were left for dead. Yup! I practically killed them! Guilty as charged! They keeled over and the buds were lying helplessly on my dining room table.

This horrifying experience, prompted me to share some tips on how to create a lasting tulip arrangement..(without killing them)!

Rinse tulip stems with cold water to remove any dirt that has been trapped in the leaves.
Trim the stems of your tulips 1″ or more using sharp shears. I like to leave about 6″ above the vase for tulips, I go shorter with other flowers.
Remove any excess leaves that you don’t need.
Fill a vase with PLENTY of cold water.
Add flower food if provided from market.
Place your tulips in the vase.

Luckily I was able to bring my lavender tulips back to life with a little TLC. By cutting the stems, adding fresh water and plant food, and removing some leaves – they came back to life and look great once again.

Tulips are a hearty flower and the secret to arranging them in a vase…there is no secret…they don’t need to be arranged. Place them in a vase with water and food and they look great, no need to fuss with them.

Tulips look beautiful when they droop over and appear floppy. If your tulips start to flop and you want to stop the droop, recut the stems and change the water.

Tulips droop due to the weight of the bud. The longer the stem, the droopier the tulip. In my experience, I found that shorter tulips tend to droop less….something to keep in mind next time you buy these beauties at the market. I’d love to see your tulip arrangement, tag me on Instagram!