These 9 herbs for flower arrangements pair well with so many cut flowers and look fantastic in cottage garden bouquets.
Foliage and fillers are must-haves if you are arranging cut flowers. They fill out and balance bouquets and can take a handful of flowers from good to amazing.
Herbs complete both roles of foliage and filler while also adding fragrance and texture to flower arrangements from the garden. They really are underrated for use in the cut-flower garden.
And chances are, you’re already growing some of these.
Look at how lovely the herb bouquet looks on its own below. All it needs are a few focal flowers.
Whether you’re a new cut-flower gardener or a vegetable gardener who likes to occasionally cut flowers for bouquets, try my favorite filler and foliage herbs for flower arrangements from the garden.
Why Grow Herbs for Flower Arrangements?
Herbs are some of the easiest plants for beginner gardeners to grow.
I love growing herbs for the kitchen and for teas, but best of all, I love growing them for bouquets. Here’s why:
- Productive: Herbs are super-productive. A single plant can produce dozens of stems over the course of the growing season. Because herbs are grown for their leaves (typically), they pump out tons of foliage that are perfect filler for flower arrangements. In fact, each time a leafy herb is cut back, it’ll typically grow two new stems from the cut!
- Perennial: Many herbs are perennial and won’t need to be replanted year after year. This is a huge plus for me because I find my seed starting and planting in the spring getting bigger and bigger each year. It’s a relief to not have to invest the time and money in getting these plants to grow anew each year. See my top 10 perennial herbs in this post.
- Easy to grow: Herbs don’t need a lot of fertilizer or special care. Once they get established, they are easy to maintain with regular watering and pruning.
- Fragrant: Read these words: mint, basil, sage… Most likely you imagine the scent before you even picture the herb in your mind. Herbs are incredibly fragrant from the essential oils and other compounds in their leaves and flowers. Scent has lasting power and often attracts us even when the visuals don’t. Popular cut-flowers like zinnias and dahlias don’t have much of a scent, and I’ve found that adding a few stems of scented herbs makes a bouquet with these flowers really come alive.
- Textural: Herbs can add tons of easy texture to floral designs. Seedpods, tall flowering stalks, ferny leaves… there’s a lot to choose from!
- Long-lasting: It can be hard to find long-lasting foliage for the vase, and these herbs that I’m using do last a week or more. Sometimes they will even root in the vase, so I can even plant them out in my garden to have more herbs for flower arranging!
- Cottagecore: Do you like the romantic and homey look of the cottage flower aesthetic? Cottage flower gardening is all about being whimsical and mixing flowers, veggies, and herbs. Adding a sprig of flowering basil or handful of sage to a bouquet will give it just that extra special je nai sais quoi.
So, what are the best herbs for flower arrangements?
I’m glad you asked!
Herbs That Are Perfect for Flower Arranging
These are my favorite, tried-and-true, must-grow-every-year herbs for bouquet foliage and texture.
To show how to use herbs in bouquets, I’ve split the list up into two sections: Foliage Herbs and Textural Herbs. I hope this list inspires you to use fragrant herbs for flower arrangements from the garden.
Foliage Herbs
Mint (Mentha)
Mint is one of those herbs that just won’t quit, which makes it a total workhorse for flower arrangements. It’s practically fool-proof to grow (borderline invasive, honestly), so you’ll want to keep it contained in a pot or raised bed to keep it from taking over your garden.
It grows so well, I have yet to run out. There’s always enough mint for bouquets, teas, and fancy drinks like my coconut mint lemonade all summer long.
As a perennial, mint is one of the first stems of foliage I can cut in the spring. It adds a fresh scent to every bouquet, and a cottage flower vibe to arrangements.
I honestly can’t imagine flower arranging without it.
Vibe: Fresh, cool, wild, and casual
Scent: cool, clean, and minty fresh
Pairs well with: zinnias, dahlias, celosia, cosmos, roses, snapdragons, feverfew, strawflower, larkspur
Favorite varieties: Apple mint (big fuzzy, silvery leaves), pineapple mint (variegated leaves), chocolate mint (smells like mint chocolate, dark stems), spearmint or sweet mint
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
I absolutely love the silvery green leaves of sage. It reminds me of eucalyptus, only way easier to obtain and grow.
Common garden sage is a perennial in zones 4–8, is quite drought tolerant, and thrives in full sun.
The older the plant, the more stems it will grow!
Sage blooms in late spring to early summer and the bees absolutely love go crazy for it.
After the flowers fade, they leave behind green or purplish calyxes that are wonderful for adding texture to arrangements. I used lots of these bloom stalks in my fresh herb wreath project several weeks ago—find it here.
Just a heads-up: sage has a tendency to grow woody stems as it ages, which aren’t ideal for bouquets. To encourage soft, usable growth, cut deeply into the plant each time you harvest. This tells the plant to push out fresh stems.
Pop fresh-cut stems in a vase of water immediately after harvest and let them have a big drink (known as conditioning them). Keep stems upright as the tender tips can wilt and curve instead of staying straight.
Vibe: Grounding, soft, romantic
Scent: earthy, warm, woodsy
Pairs well with: pale-colored roses, rudbeckia, echinacea, lisianthus, sunflowers, yarrow, lavender, salvia, deep-colored dahlias
Favorite varieties: Common sage
Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
Basil is one of my all-time favorite herbs both in the kitchen and for cut flower bouquets. It’s one of the most fragrant herbs for floral arrangements and is so easy to grow from seed.
Cinnamon basil in particular (shown above) has a delicious cinnamon-clove scent and beautiful dark flower stalks.
Now, if you’re growing basil for bouquets and for cooking, you’ll want to treat them a little differently.
You see, once basil flowers, its flavor changes.
This isn’t a big deal if you’re sticking it in a bouquet, but it’s not ideal if you’re wanting to make pesto with it.
So long story short, if you’re using it in the kitchen, harvest the tips and continue pinching off the blooms. But for flower arranging, let it flower!
That’s when the stems will be sturdy enough to cut.
Basil wilts quickly once cut, so harvest during the coolest part of the day (early morning for me) and get it hydrated right away.
If your basil wilts on you though, don’t panic.
You can revive it by dipping the bottom few inches of stems in boiling water for about 8 seconds and then placing it immediately in cool water.
Oh, and don’t put basil in the fridge. The leaves will turn black. Ask me how I know.
Vibe: Bold, dramatic, wild
Scent: sweet, peppery, fresh
Pairs well with: zinnias, marigolds, calendula, celosia, sunflowers, amaranth
Favorite varieties: Cinnamon, Lemon, Thai, Holy Basil
Shiso (Perilla frutescens)
Shiso, also known as perilla, is a gorgeous herb for flower arrangments. You’ll find it in Japanese cooking (great for sushi, tempura, or salads), but it also makes a great foliage plant in floral designs.
It’s an annual for me in zone 6 but will self-seed freely if allowed. I typically do allow it. Free plants, you know?
Shiso produces tall stems and has bold, dramatic leaves with serrated edges that can really fill out a garden bouquet.
I love the way the leaves ruffle when tucked into an arrangement.
Shiso really reminds me of coleus, and I think would make a good fill-in for it. While it’s not nearly as colorful as coleus, it does come in green and maroon.
As with basil, allow shiso stems to toughen before picking, or it will wilt.
However, if it does wilt, you can dip the stem ends in boiling water for 10 seconds before transferring to a vase of cool water to help it perk back up.
Vibe: Bold, dramatic, exotic
Scent: citrusy, slightly minty, notes of cumin
Pairs well with: dahlias, lisianthus, zinnias, celosia, amaranth, fancy chrysanthemums
Favorite varieties: Britton, Red, Green
More Posts in Cottage Vegetable Garden Series
- 18 Great Companion Flowers for Vegetables
- 7 Themed Vegetable Garden Plans for a Small Raised Bed (Free Layouts)
- What Is a Potager Garden (And Whay It’s the Only One You Need)
- Potager Garden Design: 8 Elements for a Kitchen Garden you’ll Never Want to Leave
- How to Make a Fresh Herb Wreath from your Garden
Textural Herbs
Oregano (Origanum vulgare)
Oregano is better associated with pizza sauce than it is with bouquet-making, but trust me, you don’t want to sleep on this herb.
It is a drought-tolerant perennial, like sage and grows like a weed once established.
Early in the growing season, oregano stays low to the ground at first, but as summer rolls in, it sends up delicate bloom stalks topped with airy white flowers. These fluffy bloom stalks last a long time in the vase and are one of my favorite textural elements to add to an arrangement.
Oregano flowers bring a wild, rustic texture that I just love to see in a bouquet.
Vibe: Rustic, romantic, soft
Scent: spicy, earthy
Pairs well with: Yarrow, cosmos, dahlias, rudbeckia, scabiosa, zinnias in deep shades
Favorite varieties: Greek
Dill (Anethum graveolens)
I like to think of dill as an herbal firework in the garden. The feathery leaves are beautiful, too, but the seedheads are the part of the plant that really steal the show.
Dill seedheads add tons of texture and movement to garden flower arrangements.
Although it’s not a perennial, it will self-sow rampantly if allowed to go to seed. These are called “volunteers,” and they always make me smile.
Dill produces nice long stems, which makes them easy to tuck into any sort of bouquet.
To harvest dill, wait until all the flowers are completely open (if using for flowers) before harvesting or it will wilt in the vase. Harvest seedheads once they turn green or tan.
Vibe: Airy, lacy, whimsical
Scent: fresh, grassy, with hints of citrus
Pairs well with: Bachelor’s buttons, snapdragons, poppies, zinnias, Queen Anne’s Lace or Dara
Favorite varieties: Bouquet
Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Much like dill, fennel is lacy, airy, and wild.
Bronze fennel is the only variety of fennel I’ve grown and I love the height it adds to my garden. It’s one of my top herbs to grow for kitchen garden design.
The plant has feathery, bronze-colored foliage and in the summer, yellow umbels give way to coppery seed heads.
It’s perennial in zones 5-9 and will happily self-seed if you let it.
Bronze fennel brings plenty of texture and movement but with a darker look than dill.
It does have a strong licorice or anise-like scent, which I love, but isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so use with caution!
When harvesting flowers, wait until each little flower is completely open and harvest in the coolest part of the day. Or wait until seeds begin to form before harvesting.
Vibe: Wild, dramatic, airy
Scent: licorice, anise
Pairs well with: Bachelor’s buttons, snapdragons, poppies, zinnias, Queen Anne’s Lace or Dara
Favorite varieties: Bronze
Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis)
This herb is new to me this year, and I love it. Summer savory reminds me of thyme, but grows a bit taller and is easier to use in Mason jar arrangements.
Summer savory has delicate, slender leaves and tiny little blooms. It’s just the sweetest thing when you get up close to a garden bouquet.
My favorite way to use savory is to allow it to spill over the sides of the vase and dangle below the flowers and foliage.
Even though summer savory only gets 12-18 inches tall, it’s quite useful as structure for bouquets with its strong, branching stems.
I often crisscross older savory stems in the vase to act as a natural grid, and then tuck in the remaining floral stems to complete the bouquet. It saves me from having to use a flower frog or tape.
Summer savory does get woody as it matures, like sage, so cut deeply to keep fresh growth coming.
Vibe: Airy, lacy, delicate
Scent: peppery, thyme-like, with hints of pine
Pairs well with: larkspur, delphinium, snapdragons, roses, peonies, garden phlox, gomphrena, zinnias
Favorite varieties: Summer Savory
See my favorite flower recipes for Mason jar arrangements in this post.
English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Lavender is unmatched when it comes to scent. It’s also a hardy perennial (zones 5–9, depending on the variety) and drought-tolerant once established.
The buds are useful for so many things, like making amazing lavender lemonade.
I use both the purple flower spikes and soft, silvery-green foliage in arrangements.
To be honest, lavender isn’t really my favorite way to fill out a bouquet. The flowers are so tiny, you might miss them. It really works best to tuck in little bundles of 3 to 5 stems here and there in arrangements.
Harvest lavender flowers once the buds swell but before they fully open for longest vase life.
Vibe: Soft, romantic, charming
Scent: floral, warm, sweet
Pairs well with: zinnias, roses, garden phlox
Favorite varieties: Hidcote, Munstead, Vera
Enjoy Herbs in Flower Arrangements
Herbs are a fantastic way to add scent, foliage, and texture to a garden bouquet. I think adding herbs gives cut flower arrangements a romantic cottage garden look that I absolutely love.
Additionally, herbs are easy to grow and care for, many are perennial, and they also grow fast.
Many of the herbs I enjoy cooking with make fantastic additions to the vase.
For more of my favorite bouquet fillers, check out this post next.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my favorite herbs to grow for bouquets and that you feel inspired to grow more herbs for flower arrangements, too.
If you have any suggestions for herbs I should try arranging with, drop them in the comments below!