I was driving into town from my parents’ house a few days ago. The sun was shining and I kept seeing flashes of red and orange on the side of the road. I returned home with a brilliant idea – to forage myself an autumn bouquet! It was extremely simple and very adaptable to most climates. I’m not totally sure Arizona will have much autumn foliage to work with, but if that’s you, just make one from bougainvillea and we’ll call it even!
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own: a beautiful vessel for your arrangement, a chunk of floral foam, and all the branches, leaves and berries you can find by the side of the road or in your back yard. Or your back forty, if you happen to be in rural Maine.
I had great hopes for an afternoon autumn walk in our back woods, but it’s hunting season in Maine, so I thought I’d play it safe and scavenge from the side of the road. The other thing to keep in mind, try to take only what you need. We don’t need to clear out the woods in the name of bouquets.
I ended up with red oak branches, bittersweet berries, sumac blossoms, a cat tail, a sprig of pine and one of hemlock, some gone-by goldenrod, and an unidentifiable crab apple/plum branch thing.
Cut your floral foam to match the size of your vase, and add water to cover it. Then start with your largest branches/blooms. I like to keep things a little asymmetrical and not too evenly spaced. Work your way down to smaller branches, and work your way around the vase making sure there aren’t any gaping holes. The floral foam is really critical because branches are heavy and don’t like to stay in a vase like this without a little leverage. Try to keep an eye on the height of the overall arrangement relative to the vessel, and fill in with smaller branches or leaves. Add a few sprigs of the contrasting color like the pine or hemlock to finish it off.
I added a little green because this bouquet will last a while and can easily transition into the Christmas season.
It’s not perfect, but it’s natural and festive for the late autumn season!
1 Comment
That’s lovely, Emily! This is the best time of year for a ‘foraged’ bouquet!” There are so many lingering bits of color. If I were not in the midst of packing up for the next move, I would do the same thing.