TAke a look at your shubbery and see what needs pruning back. I am ¨ÃÂng vib¨®n¨m "spring BOuquet" right now and recently used camellia foliage. THey hold up very well. The funny grey leaves of the tree "lavateras" is anotËer nice one. FOr our small table arrangements we have been uÃing a soft grass that stays fairly short and has a white stripe through it. (Sorry, can't remember the name.) IT stays under a foot tall until it starts blooming about now, but the softness and brightness of it waving in any little breeze goes well with the bright colors.

Rita, you must have read my mind! I spent some time yesterday and the day before searching this forum and a few other places looking for greens to grow as fillers. Most of the "filler" searches here turned up filler blooms, such as statice and baby's breath, but I didn't have much luck with greens.

I'm hoping that someone posts specific plants to grow, if there is such a thing, because I don't have a whole lot of shrubs already existing in my yard to choose from for greens. I was beginning to wonder if greens are something that many growers purchase instead of grow.

Thanks, Rita, for posting this!
:)
Dee

I think it was mentioned before that peony leaves were a good filler as are columbine. Basil, parsley, sage, agastache, dill, and fennel are herbs that can double as greens. Others I have read have used daylily, iris and cattail leaves.

Not greens, but other filler that I've been using are solidago & Ammi (false queen ann's lace).

Patty

For good greens that give straight lines to an arrangement, I use forsythia (the flowers usually winter kill here, but the greens don't) and common privet.
A two-in-one type plant is Bells of Ireland which is an interesting green flower that gives the effect of being a green also.
As another poster mentioned, I also use wild solidago before it turns yellow, and the more-green-than-yellow appearance helps to individual the flowers between it.
If you can sacrifice some foliage from blueberry bushes, they work also.
I've been eyeing my winterberry, as by the time the berries are formed, I am usually not selling any longer.
Ann

Thanks for all the responses so far but I think most of the things you all have mentioned just burn up in this Texas Heat. I guess I need to just go out around my house and cut things I think look good and test the vase life and go from there. I was looking for names of maybe certain ferns or something in that line that I could get started and have around if the need arises like yesterday. I made this really lovely sunflower, dahlia and zinnia bouquet for this nice little older lady to take to her church and she says yes it's just lovely but could you put some greenery in it? Well I sighed and started adding grasses and some cinnamon basil to it. Oh she really liked that, but then she asks me "Do you have any of that foil paper to put around the vase?" And I very nicely apologized no I don't and explained to her that seeing the stems through the vase was really what everyone was doing now a days and I think she understood. She was at least 80 and around our part of the country those littles ladies are use to foil. I think she went away very happy with the flowers because she got a huge vase of flowers for probaly alot less than what she was use to paying at the florist in town. I have been making quite a few church arrangements and I think the greenery would make the flowers show up better, especially when they are quite a distance from the viewer so that is why I am asking about greenery. Also does anyone have any good suggestions on good floral arranging books?

Rita

Again, Rita, I have to say that you and I think alike, lol! When I think of "greens" I think of fern-like stems of foliage. I never thought of just going through my shrubs or herb garden to cut greenery. I started a cutting garden this year, and while I love having the bouquets of flowers, they just seem to be missing something without greenery. Maybe I'll plant some ferns in my woods out back.

Sorry, can't help you with the flower-arranging book just yet. Still looking myself...

:)
Dee

An independant grower that I've purchased from many times in New Hampshire frequently used large-leaf hostas for filler and I thought it was beautiful. They seem to last well in the vase too. There are many different shapes to hosta leaves from lance shape to heart to sorta oval. Just a thought.

In zone 8 you have so many possibilities. I use Nandina, Pittosporum, Spirea, Loropetalum, Cyrtomium (Japanese Holly Ferns), Euphorbia, Artemesia, pleated Crocosmia leaves, Iris pallida, Magnolia, Camellia leaves. Eucalyptus, Cynara, , some Viburnum, Blueberry (magical red Fall foliage), and don't forget the fast-growing summer tropicals like Sweet Potato Vine Margarite and Blackie, and the solid chartreuse or burgundy leaves of Coleus. Canna leaves in bronze, burgundy, deepred. Cordyline is available cheap in spring and has great spiky tough leaves in green, red, purple, almost black. Asparagus plumosa is the traditional "fern" used by florists I believe and is hardy here in Z8...probably for you, too.

Here's a great site which is interesting and fun to explore. josh

Here is a link that might be useful: Foliage and Flower Arranging

That's a great link for the foliage. Before I ever saw it, I tried Heuchera leaves bordered around the edge of my arrangement and it looked beautiful the first day. However, the leaves wilted immediately the second day. So I don't know if I did something wrong or what.

Thanks Josh and all that responded. The foliag link is great. I will look it over good when I'm not so tired. Had a hard day ready for bed. I have some of the greens mentioned around my house and will start vase testing them. I used a plant we have here called esparanza which flowers yellow and orange depending on the variety and I used the flowers and even some of the foliage in bouquets and arrangements and they work for me. I am going to Home Depot and Lowes tommorrow and look around for some of the foliage that I have found searching the forum.

Rita

Taro (Tubers) leaves will work fine as fillers.

And, to add to the list...Laurel (English and Otto Luken), boxwood, lemon balm, any of the mints, oregano, hardy asters (for fall), leaves from glads and crocosmia, ribbon grass, sage, and test your native shrubs...many work very well. Here's a link that might be of use:

Wendy

Here is a link that might be useful: Dos Ossos

I have to say that at first I was a bit disappointed in some of the suggestions posted, because they just didn't seem very, I don't know, "floristy", lol. But the other day I tried some sprigs of forsythia in my bouquets, and it really looked pretty good! Thanks for all the suggestions!

Now I'm looking at the few shrubs I have with a new eye. That euonymous is looking really good...

:)
Dee

There are four Fs in making a bouquet: feature, filler, foliage, and fragrance.

The feature flower can be: lily, rose, peony, sunflower, large dahlia, or something outstanding.

The filler is a spray of little flowers such as Baby's Breath, Feverfew, Chinese Forget-Me-Nots, Agrostemma, Sweet William, Cosmos, Zinnias, Scabiosa, and other medium/small flowers.

Foliage is something leafy; but, it certainly does not need to be green. Think about using wheat. You can use many of the ornamental grasses, Sweet Annie, Eucalyptus, a hosta leaf, ornamental grain such as millet. Some people use leaves from their peony bushes and some of the shrubs already mentioned. You can use the stems from monarda even after they have bloomed. Try using some of the mints, basil and oregano.

Fragrance can be a separate flower; or, it can be one already part of the arrangement -- such as the Sweet William, mint, monarda or Sweet Annie.

I use monarda foliage before and after it blooms, but never the flowers themselves. They look too ragged to my eye. But the foliage is great!

Jeanne

Ivy is something you might want to start growing. There's such a variety of different shaped leaf types, some variegated, some different shades of green. They're hardy outdoors here in Atlanta. You can often get small starter plants in the $2-$3 range at Walmart, Lowe's and Home Depot in the indoor plant section. It lasts so well cut it often starts rooting in the vase. I'd love to hear about any of your finds! Happy arranging!

Rita,

I live in a hot climate too - I have used flowering plum, citrus, olive, and modesto ash leaves or any other tree that might take a bit of pruning. I also use yarrow, artemisia powis castle, upright rosemary, abelia, any type of broom that isn't invasive, dusty miller and even grape leaves. Margarite 'tali' is a great filler with tiny leaves, likes the heat and blooms this time of year with tiny yellow flowers. I also let carrots go to seed and use the greens and the carrots also produce a nice flower similar to queen anne's lace.

Linda

Linda, Did you know that Queen Anne's Lace is actually wild carrot? There are many fables associated with this plant. One fable associated with the name of this plant describes the occasion of Queen Anne of England (1655-1714) pricking her finger while making lace, staining the lace with blood. If you look closely, you'll notice that each large "flower" has many small white florets with a reddish/purple dot in the middle.

Market growers; however, use a hybrid Queen Anne's Lace.

Trish

Although I'm way up north, cosmos is easy to grow and is beautiful. I also use hosta leaves and of course ferns. Believe it or not but carrot tops work too.

Trish,

I didn't know Queen Anne's Lace was wild carrot - and hear I was telling someone who asked me if it was Queen Anne's Lace - that, no it was carrot!

I had let my carrots go to seed quite by accident and then when they started growing so tall with such wonderful foliage and then blooming with such wonderful lace caps, I was greatly rewarded - I love learning about plants - always something new every day - I will have to grow some more this year. Thank you so much.

Linda

I love using my rosemary:) It smells great too:)! I use it a lot of times at X-mas instead of pine (Which we have lots of in East Texas!:(....and I don't like pine trees! oh well ... use your rosemary:)