awesome possum freebie blossoms

So far the only flowers I've brought home from the shop have been easy to toss in a vase and let that be the end of it.  But last week I asked to take home some past-prime dendrobium orchids and suddenly the vase I'd claimed filled up with surprises as my co-workers started tossing in other flowers that had grown too old or wimpy to sell, but remained sort of nice to look at. 

By the time I left for the day this is what I had: orchids, pink spray roses, yellow full-size roses, a Gerbera daisy, and some greenery.

To manage this assortment, I pulled out a few containers I thought might be workable size-wise, then contemplated how to arrange everything.  Right before moving to this apartment I performed a serious clean-out of my glassware cupboard--a two-door space full of vases, candleholders, cool tabletop containers like a fishbowl, and other random vessels made of wood and metal.  Ironically, that was right before I started working at a flower shop and actually having a use for so many "frivolous" containers.  Que sera.

We have here some odds and ends: a wine bottle, a massage-oil bottle, a water bottle (more on that in a minute), and a bowl from Hobby Lobby.  At our wedding we had one bowl on each end of the cake table, and in each bowl, over some colored marbles, swam a blue betta.  (Our colors were blue and silver.)

But I digress.  I forgot to grab any flower food--you know, the little packets you get in a wrapped bouquet?--so I improvised with sugar water.  I stirred up batches in my pitcher and poured the right amount into each container, which was much easier than trying to mix in the containers themselves.

First I separated the flowers into little collections I wanted to keep together.  Then, one group at a time, I tried to convince them to look like they belonged together.  The orchids were easy as pie.  They look stunning all by themselves, so I left most of them that way.  Here's what went into the bedroom...

...while the rest, plunked effortlessly in the pitcher, landed on the dining table:

I wrapped a few of the sparser stems of orchids around the inside of the bowl to create a nest effect.  I snapped off some of the prettier blossoms to float in the water--a trick I learned while helping set up a wedding a couple weekends ago.  (All that bride's orchids were pink: some long stems submerged in tall oblong cylinders, some floated with roses and leaves in "ponds"--basically like my bowl but bigger, and some in a third variation I honestly can't recall.)

I planned to stick to a strictly-orchid arrangement but I couldn't resist adding this rose when it occurred to me that the yellow and green might be a fun combination.  What I ended up liking best about the addition of the rose is that it hides some of the wooden tabletop that was visible through the glass, making the arrangement look more complete.

The rest of the roses--which smell delightful--went in the same green vase I recently used for white roses.

As for the pinks, which really don't match any of my decor, they went into a vase by a famous American designer:

I didn't say vase designer....  And I think I mentioned that lately I'm stretched a little thin in the vase department, didn't I?  So I make do.  I think it works, but you tell me:

The arrangement includes a pink Gerbera daisy, two pale pink spray roses, some red hypericum berries, and a sprig of grevillea.  Though I know I still have lots to learn, already I'm having fun getting acquainted with all sorts of flowers, and making homes for them within my home.