Along with other flower retailers, many professional florists are catering to customers who want to make their own bouquets with large, unrefrigerated displays of high quality cut flowers and greens, grouped by colour and variety.

1. Choose flowers like fresh produce.  Look for blooms that are just starting to open, have firm stems, healthy leaves and erect, vibrant petals.
2. Remember mass, filler and line as the basis of floral design.  Mass means flowers that are generally round and full-faced (e.g. roses, gerberas, tulips, lilies) and form the focal point of colour or interest in the bouquet.  Filler refers to foliage that rounds out your bouquet and gives it a soft, full look (e.g. greens, baby’s breath, heather, statice, solidaster).  Line additions (e.g. branches, tall foliage, gladiolus, liatris, snapdragon) give your bouquet height, width, and a balanced look.
3. Get the vase ready.  The possibilities are endless but avoid plain metal containers (those without a protective plastic coating).  Make sure the vase is clean, leak-proof, with a neck and water reservoir large enough for your flowers to fit comfortably.  The height of your vase should be about half as tall as your flowers.  Add fresh, warm water until ¾’s full and the contents of a flower food sachet, according to the instructions.
4. Sort and clean your flowers and greens.  Group your purchases according to mass, filler, and line.  Remove all stem leaves that will be below the water line.  Trim stem ends diagonally with a sharp knife of shears, to about twice the height of the vase, leaving line stems a few inches longer.
5. Insert filler foliage and flowers.  Criss-cross line stems as you add them to the vase to create a grid that holds the flowers in place.
6. Space mass flowers evenly throughout filler.  Start at the rim of the vase and work towards the centre.
7. Finally, add line stems.  Place the longest stems in the centre and work out towards the sides.  Stand back and review your bouquet, making adjustments as necessary.

For more information:

Elements of Design

Principles of Design