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A great inexpensive last-minute hostess gift is a bouquet from your garden.
Make it easy to transport without spilling by putting it in a container that can travel in your car’s cupholder. Since many vehicles have more than one, it may be possible to travel with your bouquet and your coffee too! Small vases such as bud vases often have bases small enough to fit in the cup holder, but if you don’t have one handy you can make one. A vase can easily be made from a 20 oz. plastic water bottle or soda bottle with its label removed. The narrow top portion of the bottle, which would limit the number of stems you could fit in the vase, can be quickly cut off using utility shears. The bottle can be decorated with a simple ribbon bow tied around it or glued on with hot glue. With a little more effort, a paper or fabric sleeve can be glued or taped around the bottle - especially convenient if you’ve been unable to remove the label completely. The sleeve could be color-coordinated to the bouquet and can bear a picture, pattern, or even a message to suit the occasion. If the cupholder is located in the middle of the front seat, neat the gear shift or close to the steering wheel, be careful that the bouquet is not so big and flamboyant that it interferes with the operation of the car! Fill the vase part way with water, leaving an inch or so at the top so a sudden stop or speed bump doesn’t cause water to splash all over the passengers. Choose flowers for your bouquet and snip their stems to make an arrangement that will look attractive when the bouquet is placed on a countertop, table, or mantle at your recipient’s home. Themed bouquets are nice. Snippets from the herb garden are especially appropriate for a friend who likes to cook and entertain. Variegated basil, silver thyme, variegated or purple sage, oregano, lemon verbena are a delight to the eye as well as the palate. The flowers as well as the foliage can be used. Edible blossoms like pansy or nasturtium make attractive additions as long as they have not been sprayed with a toxic pesticide. Fragrant bouquets with roses and lavender are also excellent choices, or a simple cluster of lilacs. A more modern style arrangement can be made with a single species of flower in a dense bouquet that results in an intense mass of color. If you know your hostess well, you can tailor your bouquet to her interests or her home - a peach and salmon arrangement to match her dining room, or old-fashioned flowers for her Victorian living room. Another idea is to make your bouquet fit the occasion - red white and blue annuals for a Fourth of July barbecue, grasses with seed heads for an autumn party, evergreens with a few hothouse blossoms for a winter gathering. Since the container is not large, these not need be extremely long-stemmed flowers. A few blossoms surrounded by some beautifully textured or variegated leaves may be enough. Experiment a little until you find the right combination. Even weeds can be a charming addition to the bouquets! Be sure that you are not using invasive species, especially if there are seed heads or fruits. Check the arrangements over carefully for “hitchikers“ . Nibbling critters will not be a pleasant surprise when you present your gift, and at worst you might cause an infestation of your recipient’s garden.
The copyright of the article Cupholder Bouquets in Flower Gardens is owned by Laura D. Eisener. Permission to republish Cupholder Bouquets in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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