The best seasonal blooms for beautiful easter flower arrangements
Spring is most definitely on the horizon with the daffodils popping up everywhere and the buds on the trees firmly greening up! It is the most glorious time of year when nature begins to wake up, shortly followed by Easter. One of the most celebrated occasions in spring and luckily for us it falls in April where spring blooms are in abundance. I want to share with you my favourite seasonal blooms you can use for beautiful easter flower arrangements.
Whether you are getting married in spring or looking to dress your home for the occasion, spring is the most wonderful time of year for flowers. Spring bulbs will be your go to choice, either potted or cut and spring foliage such as blossom is just the most exquisite bloom for this time of year.
What flowers are in season during easter?
It is around April that the British flower season tends to ramp up, we are lucky enough to enjoy the Cornish daffodils and narcissi throughout the early part of the year, but by Easter we will be able to encorporate a lot more variety into our flower arrangements. Early tulips should be flowering, and are a wonderful flowers to grow in pots at home, or use in exquisite bridal work. The varieties, shapes, sizes and colours of tulips is vast, with new varieties being brought onto the market each year. I love using the double varieties, when they open up they have so many petal layers they can easily replicate the job of a garden rose or fluffy peony. Frilly tulips can be so as delicate as they are interesting, alongside the textured parrot tulips and the two tone colourful ones. In fact there is so much to talk about tulips, I think they deserve a blog post all of their own!
Anemones, ranunculus, poppies are further spring flowers that should be available at Easter, coming in a huge range of colours from soft, romantic pastels, to deep, rich jewell shades. Delicate muscari and frittilary are bulbs that add texture and interest to dainty arrangements or just pop the stems in bud vases along your Easter table.
What colour palettes work well for an Easter wedding?
If you are getting married at Easter, then you will be lucky enough to embrace the spring tones throughout your wedding. I you prefer the softer more elegant pastel shades then soft blush, pale yellow, soft blue are fabulous colours to think about using within your spring wedding. Alongside delicate white or pale pink blossom, you can create the most stunning, spring look to your wedding using blousy double tulips, exquisite Cloni ranunculus and delicate Icelandic poppies. If you would prefer a bolder colour choice for your spring wedding, consider using the brighter shades of tulips. Rich purple/plum against orange and zingy lime green viburnum is a beautiful way of using colour in a stylish way. One of my favourite tulips to use is Black Hero, a stunning long stemmed dark plum tulip, which I believe works in all kinds of colour ways. Deep plum can be woven into the paler colour scheme to add some depth and interest. Yellow will always be a classic for Easter weddings, try using a variety of tones though from buttery cream, soft yellow through to the brighter shades. This will ensure you have a classy and stylish look and your Easter wedding steers clear of the brashy Easter chick kind of yellow!
What foliage is AVAILABLE for Easter flower arrangements?
We may not have as many options for foliage as perhaps a summer or autumn wedding, but that is why working seasonally is so special. We replicate what nature is doing, focusing on the glorious blossom branches, magnolia stems, amelanchier and viburnum opulus. The ultimate spring foliage is this zesty green viburnum, beginning its journey in a bright green colour, ending in a paler lime. Large, yet delicate balls of petals bring a serious amount of texture and interest, with this foliage being so beautiful you can use in a vase alone. A huge statement, wedding flower arch of just viburnum would be just magical! Blossom be it apple, pear, cherry, they all have their distinct colour and work well again alone in a vase, or nestled in amongst spring blooms. A fleeting season, and blossom needs to be cut at the exact right stage to avoid blossom confetti, however aren’t all the most beautiful flowers fleeting?!
How to use spring bulbs as Easter Decoration:
A great tip for Easter is to pot up some spring bulbs, in rustic terracotta or coloured ceramics, these can be utilised at various points throughout your house during this special occasion. Decorate your Easter table with lots of coloured candles, and potted bulbs throughout the centre. Or place a collection on your front doorstep, or welcome hall table. The fantastic thing about using potted bulbs is that once they have finished flowing, you can plant them up outside so they can flower again next year. My favourite spring bulbs to use would be muscari, narcissi… even little spring primroses or violas are a great way to use plants at Easter.
Create a seasonal spring wreath for Easter:
We all love our traditional christmas wreath, but have you ever thought about creating a spring wreath? I love to make these using potted bulbs and spring flowers, it is a gorgeous way to celebrate spring or Easter, hang on your door and enjoy throughout the Easter weekend. These can be simple to make or ask your local florist to create you one. I use a moss based wreath, you can use your christmas one if you still have it! Just give the moss a good drink beforehand. Secure bunches of hardly foliage, such as ivy or pitto onto the moss, interspersed with the potted bulbs. Muscari, narcissi and then primrose and violas work well. A top tip is to cover the soil in moss beforehand, so you can wire the plant onto the wreath cleanly in a way that the soil doesn’t go everywhere! I add in my spring flowers in plastic tubes to the moss, these can be replaced as they go over.
My top 5 favourite seasonal flowers to use in Easter arrangements:
Tulips: double, frilly, parrot, simple… they come in all colours and are easy to grow in the garden (bulbs must be planted when it is cold around January, so plan this ahead for next year so you have flowers blooming in time for Easter!) Enjoy as part of your garden display, or create a spring cutting patch like I have done so you can snip and bring flowers into the home throughout spring. A complete joy!
Narcissi: Again a bulb that needs to be planted in winter, however this is well and truly worth doing. Narcissi range from purest white through to brightest yellow, with so many fancy varieties available now. Lots have textured, coloured centres, which adds real interest to your Easter flower arrangements. The scent is wonderful too!
Ranunculus: A sister to the peony, ranunculus offer that blousy, fluffy romantic look that only this type of flower can bring. They are super long lasting two and as they open up they become more papery and blousy. From white to the most exquisite blush colour, through to deep cerise and plum, yellow and coral. There is a ranunculus for each colour palette.
Muscari: I adore muscari, the delicate fronds of pale blue flowers are the variety synonymous with spring. Popping up around garden edges, they are probably one of the first flowers I remember picking as a little child! The palest blue is a sophisticated way of using blue in your spring wedding flowers or Easter arrangements and the white and pale pink are super pretty too. A favourite to use in spring buttonholes too!
Fritillary: I love the bouncy little flowers, the delicate stems bring so much texture and moment to an arrangement and the deep plum speckled flower is just beautiful. Have them popping out of your Easter arrangements or place in delicate little votives on mass. Fritillary are also a great larger variety of bulb to grow in the garden and can create real impact at this time of year when larger flowers are not as accessible as the later Summer months.
If you are looking to decorate your home with seasonal flowers for Easter, or perhaps send a gift bouquet to celebrate my Devon florist studio will be open throughout the Easter period for delivery and collection of flowers. Do ring or email ahead to secure your flowers! Gift bouquets can be sent through the local North Devon area to Woolacombe, Croyde, Saunton, Braunton, Ilfracombe, Lee Bay, Combe Martin and the surrounding areas. Whilst my florist in Ilfracombe can be open for bouquet and house flower pre orders.