i am a terrible flower arranger so i can attest to the fact that using the same flower hides "mistakes" well. another trick is to hold the flowers in your hand like a bouquet. arrange it how you'd like it to look in the vase. then clip the bottoms (rather than doing stem by stem). also secure the stems with a string, long leaf, or rubber band. i went from terrible flower arranger to somewhat ok with those tips.

Oh, do I love peonies! These are all gorgeous arrangements and just the sight of them gives me hope for those soft, warm days of spring. Will it ever come?

Oh God I LOVE peonies. They are so beautiful and soft. A huge vase of them definitely makes a statement. I miss my old house, it had 20 bushes that were probably planted when the house was built in the 1940s and they were amazing bloomers.

Another trick that is really sharp is to have multiple vases with one kind of flower in each vase. (i.e. one tall vase of white alstromeria and one low vase of white chrysanthemums) It looks really high end.

That's what the person working at the flower shop is for to arrange the flowers for you as you like them.

Here in Europe I can buy flowers so cheaply at the market stand in the city.

I just go there once a week, pick out the flowers that I like and have the person arrange them for me.

For 15 dollars a week, I have enough flowers to fill the key places in my house.

Or if I'm in a hurry, I get the same flowers and arrange them in a vase myself.
I have a budget of 15 dollars for week for flowers and this is enough to have flower in three different rooms.

You can also buy arranged flowers at the supermarket that's actually pretty nice.

Wow, wish I could spend just $15 a week and have enough flowers for my house! $15 in the U.S. only gets you one small, sad bouquet. I agree with using just one kind of flower, makes the bouquet/arrangement look much better when you're not a pro at arranging.

@janyclaire - where are you looking? I can fill three vases for $15. Granted, I'm using supermarket flowers, but they actually hold up quite well. I don't buy the pre-arranged bouquets. They're rarely the combination of flowers I'd make on my own.

that peony arrangement is so beautiful. I'm a sucker for a white peony & white lilac arrangement but there's literally a 9 day window when they both are available at the same time.

It's beautiful, but there must be $100 worth of peonies in that simple arrangement.

@patfm - Whole Foods in my area was selling peonies for about $13 a bouquet (maybe six stems).

"that peony arrangement is so beautiful. I'm a sucker for a white peony & white lilac arrangement but there's literally a 9 day window when they both are available at the same time."

Nine days is only if it doesn't rain! You can kiss the peonies good-bye with the first storm after they (finally!) bloom.

@Pi
By that standard, I think it's still a $50 arrangement.

Gorgeous flowers.
And no icky red roses!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/muutos-four-flower-vaseperfect-vase-for-the-busy-host-131373

The peonies are gorgeous! I've been displaying mixed bouquets from the Farmer's Market but I'll have to try this!

I love tulips and best of all, white ones. My second best are yellow tulips but I find those pink ones in the last picture pretty nice although I would have left them on their stem. Tulip stems keep growing in water. I love when they start twisting and the flowers take odd shapes and fading colours. Hey! Spring is just around the corner, tulips are a-coming!