I can’t begin to count the amount of flower arrangements I’ve created in my lifetime. That’s why I’m sharing my best tips and tricks for creating easy, beautiful, and long-lasting tulip flower arrangements. Want to learn how to arrange tulips? You’re in the right place!
As you might know, I’m a bit of a flower enthusiast. While I have no formal flower arranging training, I’ve been doing it for years and have even spent some time working in a flower shop.
While I’ve shared several flower arranging tips here on Inspired by Charm, I thought it might be helpful to create a post dedicated to tulips. They have some different requirements when it comes to arranging, so I put together all I know and I am happy to share it with you.
Let’s get into it!
Where to Buy Tulips
First, you’re going to need some tulips. Here are my go-to sources:
- Grocery Store: If you just need a dozen or two, I recommend picking them up at the grocery store. I particularly love them from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Most grocery stores stock tulips year-round.
- Local Flower Shop: Your local flower shop is always a great source for beautiful blooms. You may tend to pay a bit more, but it’s always nice to support a local business. You could also ask if they have any leftover flowers or special deals on older blooms that you could take advantage of at a discounted rate.
- PetalDriven: The tulips I’m using for this post are from PetalDriven. PetalDriven is a go-to for me when I need a lot of flowers. They offer direct (straight from the farm) wholesale flowers shipped directly to your door. You can save 10% on your order by using code “INSPIRED10” at checkout. They were kind enough to provide these beautiful parrot tulips for this post.
What’s the Best Vase?
For tulips, I really don’t think it matters too much. When I’m doing a flower arrangement I generally think it’s easier to work with a smaller opening. I think the same can be true for tulips, but because of their large thick leaves, you can get away with a larger opening.
One of my favorite things to use for any arrangement is a pitcher. They always seem to have the perfect size opening.
Here are a few other favorites:
Try a Tulipiere
And let’s not forget my all-time favorite: a tulipiere!
How do you arrange tulips in a tulip vase?
Have you ever heard of one of these magical “self-arranging” vases? If not, you’re in luck because I have an entire post dedicated to them. Consider it a mini crash course in tulipieres: what they are, how to use them, and my favorite ones.
How to Arrange
Okay, with all of that information in your toolkit, I think we are ready to start arranging. Here’s what you need to do.
- Start by removing your tulips from their packaging. Discard and recycle any paper or plastic.
- Fill a clean vase about 1/3 full with room temperature water. Tulips tend to do best in shallow water.
- Next, you’ll want to remove some of the leaves from your stems. Personally, I only like to leave about 2 leaves (or sometimes even just one) on a stem, but you can do what you like. With that being said, one thing you want to avoid is having any leaves in the water. (This goes with any flower.) Leaves in water tend to rot which will significantly decrease the life of your arrangement and leave your water looking cloudy and smelling unpleasant.
- Using a pair of sharp scissors, cut off at least 1 inch of the tulip stem and then place it directly into the water. Cut each tulip stem and place it into the water as soon as you cut it. Generally speaking, I like to see the stem length about 1.75 times the height of the vase. This means that the length of the stem/flower sticking out of the vase should be about 3/4ths as tall as the vase.
- When placing the stems into the vase, I like to move around the vase rather than concentrating on one area at a time. I think this helps to create a fuller-looking arrangement. Plus, when you work this way, the stems almost create an interlocking grid helping to hold each other up.
- Finally, refresh your tulips at least every other day if not daily. This means recutting the stems and changing the water.
Tulip “Tricks”
There are a handful of tulip “tricks” when arranging them. If you’re particular with how you want your tulips to look, feel free to try these methods. I personally enjoy watching the tulips do their thing whatever that may be.
How do you arrange tulips so they don’t droop?
There are some hack for preventing your tulips from dropping including putting a penny or vodka in the water or inserting a pin through the stem below the head.
However, I found that just by cutting the stem, tulips will perk up and stand on their own. It’s part of their magic!
Final Notes
- Tulips don’t need the small packet of flower food that’s often provided with grocery store flowers. Save this for some other blooms.
- Tulips will adjust and move in your vase. They almost arrange themselves as they settle in. They will also open towards the light. I recommend just letting them do their thing. They are beautiful at every stage of their life, even as they start to drop leaves.
- If you’re not sure how long your stem should be, always go a little longer. You can always cut more off later if necessary.
- If your vase feels a bit crowded, you can remove additional leaves.
I hope you found this tulip arranging tutorial helpful and picked up a few tricks and tips along the way.
If you have more to add to the conversation, please let me know in the comments below.
More Flower Arranging Tips You May Enjoy
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1 flower vase
1 pair of scissors
fresh water
Start by removing your tulips from their packaging. Discard and recycle any paper or plastic.
Fill a clean vase about 1/3 full with room temperature water. Tulips tend to do best in shallow water.
Next, you’ll want to remove some of the leaves from your stems. Personally, I only like to leave about 2 leaves (or sometimes even just one) on a stem, but you can do what you like. With that being said, one thing you want to avoid is having any leaves in the water. (This goes with any flower.) Leaves in water tend to rot which will significantly decrease the life of your arrangement and leave your water looking cloudy and smelling unpleasant.
Using a pair of sharp scissors, cut off at least 1 inch of the tulip stem and then place it directly into the water. Cut each tulip stem and place it into the water as soon as you cut it. Generally speaking, I like to see the stem length about 1.75 times the height of the vase. This means that the length of the stem/flower sticking out of the vase should be about 3/4ths as tall as the vase.
When placing the stems into the vase, I like to move around the vase rather than concentrating on one area at a time. I think this helps to create a fuller-looking arrangement. Plus, when you work this way, the stems almost create an interlocking grid helping to hold each other up.
Finally, refresh your tulips at least every other day if not daily. This means recutting the stems and changing the water.
Tulips will adjust and move in your vase. They almost arrange themselves as they settle in. They will also open towards the light. I recommend just letting them do their thing. They are beautiful at every stage of their life, even as they start to drop leaves.
If you’re not sure how long your stem should be, always go a little longer. You can always cut more off later if necessary.
If your vase feels a bit crowded, you can remove additional leaves.