As 2024 comes to a close, I thought it would be fun to look through photos of my flower arrangements from this year and rank my top 5 and worst 5.
I wrote a post like this ranking my flower bouquets from 2023, which was the first year I started trying to arrange flowers. There are some pretty terrible ones in there, not going to lie!
I’m interested to see how I’ve progressed over the gardening season and honestly, now that we’re fully into the winter season, I’m longing to see green plants and pretty flowers again.
So I fully acknowledge that this post is probably more for me than it is for you, but thanks for coming along to read anyway!
My 5 Worst Cut-Flower Arrangements from 2024
When looking through photos to choose my “worst” or least favorite bouquets, I decided to leave out the ones that I put together from leftover scraps from other arrangements, and also ones from late spring/early summer when there were just so few flowers to choose from, I had to take whatever I could get.
I thought would only be fair to critique the ones where I had plenty of flower and greenery options so that I would have no excuse to hide behind.
Here are (in my opinion) my worst cut-flower arrangements from 2024.
5. Pink Nightmare
This one had potential to be absolutely stunning, and I feel guilty that I had cut branches from my husband’s beloved Japanese maples to create this arrangement.
Unfortunately, the arranger (me) forgot to add a flower in the middle. Do you see that giant empty hole in the center? *smacks face*
I’m guessing I didn’t quite have enough pink zinnias for this bouquet. Typically when you don’t have enough flowers, you can always add more greens or switch to a smaller vase.
I don’t think I used any mechanics in the vase either because it would’ve looked better to have that one long Japanese maple branch be more upright. Then I could’ve filled in with more sage and celosia to help fill out the vase. The mechanics (tape, chicken wire, flower frog, etc.) would’ve also helped space out the flowers a bit better to make the whole arrangement look more full.
I think I’ll score this one 4/10.
4. Stripes of Roses
Here’s another floral arrangement that didn’t quite hit the mark. Those poor roses didn’t deserve to be displayed like this.
My main critique of this one is that the roses go in a solid line of pink straight across the center of this bouquet. I think I could’ve cut the roses at varying heights to distribute them throughout this arrangement. The roses are the main star of this show and while they do draw your eye, it’s not because they look good!
I also think the snapdragons and nepeta look too stiff sticking up from the stripe of roses down at the bottom. These would’ve looked better tucked in at an angle and allowed to drape along the edges.
If I could’ve switched the placement of the nepeta and roses, I think this bouquet probably would’ve looked better. 5/10.
3. Plopped in the Vase
These poor flowers appear to have been freshly picked and just plopped into the vase. I love the colors and those Sylvia dahlias look stunning, but the shape of the bouquet and the lack of greenery bring it down for me.
I don’t like arrangements that look too stiff and this one is giving “straight from the market.” I think bouquets in stores look beautiful when they are all wrapped and sitting in their buckets, but they look terrible when unwrapped and stuck in a vase with all the flowers facing up at the same level.
This bouquet is sitting too high above the vase and would’ve benefitted from more greenery around the edges. Likely a larger vase with mechanics would’ve helped. 5/10.
2. Red Dahlias Can’t Save This One
I remember wanting to feature these Cornel dahlias in a bouquet because they were so prolific at the time. Red is not my favorite color so I normally don’t do an all red grouping, but mix in other colors.
Like the last bouquet we looked at, this one has that same upright vase shape, but because the vessel has a bit of curve to it, the flowers in this arrangement were able to fan out more than in the previous one.
Dahlias and zinnias both have very stiff, straight stems which can sometimes be difficult to work with without using mechanics.
This last year I avoided using mechanics whenever possible and instead created a network of branches or thick flower stems to sort of create pockets that functioned like mechanics. I don’t know, I guess I just got tired of cleaning the chicken wire and having tape get unstuck in the middle of arranging.
This one just needed a bit more fluff at the bottom. The dahlias on the extreme left and right should’ve been cut shorter and allowed to have a more rounded shape. I had plenty of other fillers and spikes to break up the bouquet and I probably could’ve stuck with a more traditional shape for this one.
1. Purple and Peach Combo
I made this bouquet around the end of September and I was starting to get bored of the pinks and oranges that I had a lot of.
I think I like the purple dahlias and these peachy orange zinnias together, but there are a few elements in this that are just a bit off to me.
First is that one hydrangea stem sticking out too far on the right.
Second, I think there are too many flowers smushed into the center.
If I could just stretch everything out and elongate the flowers a little further, I think this would’ve looked good. Something I know I need to work on is cutting longer stems when I’m harvesting flowers.
Adding a few more hydrangeas would’ve been nice, too. 5/10.
My 5 Best Cut-Flower Arrangements in 2024
Looking at my worst arrangements was pretty painful, especially since just a few easy tweaks could’ve easily made pushed some into my top 10! But I’m happy that I had more good bouquets than bad ones, and I do think I made a lot of progress from 2023.
Finding my favorite arrangements was easy, but having to rank them from 1 to 5 was not easy!
If you follow me on Instagram or Pinterest, or you’ve looked through previous posts on this site (like this fall flowers one), you’ve probably already seen all my favorites at some point. But here there are again because you can never have too many pretty flowers to look at!
5. Incrediball Hydrangeas and Dinnerplate Dahlias
Two of my favorite types of garden flowers, dinnerplate dahlias and smooth hydrangeas come together in a fluffy bouquet. This arrangement has Thomas Edison and Shiloh Noelle Dahlias and aged Incrediball Hydrangeas.
I love how the green hydrangeas add that pale green color and gorgeous texture. The purple and white dinnerplate dahlias complement each other so well. Thomas Edison turned out to be one of my favorites this season because the flowers are so large and the plants were quite productive.
I think the flowers look so romantic and are actually big enough to fill out this vase. 8/10 for sure.
4. Living Flame Zinnias and Dahlias
For this arrangement, I wanted it to look like fire. Literally. So I chose all my orange, red, and gold flowers and added lots of wispy elements like the grass and asparagus fronds. Hot Biscuits Amaranth was a new flower for me and it pairs so well with different flowers and colors.
I love how this arrangement turned out. I’d give this an 8/10 because I do wish I had tucked in a few more large flowers.
I think the thing that makes it magical for me is the sunset backlighting those asparagus fronds. Until I finally was able to get it in the right lighting, I actually had such a hard time photographing this bouquet because I just didn’t feel like it was translating well on camera. It looked gorgeous in real life, but kind of disappeared on camera.
I still have a lot to learn about photography, and I still also struggle with capturing photos with crystal clear focus. But when it all comes together, it’s amazing!
3. Pale Pink Peonies
I know that the peonies are starting to brown in this photo, but that was my fault for waiting too long to get a photo. Typically, I try to take pictures of my flowers the day of or at most the day after so that they are nice and fresh, but I simply dropped the ball on this one.
It’s a shame, too, because these long-awaited Sarah Bernhardt peonies were absolute showstoppers, and this vase makes them look extra elegant.
I grow Scentuous roses too, that look like smaller versions of these flowers (you can kind of see them in the far right background, and they unfortunately are featured in my “worst arrangements” list above), but they do not compare to the fluffy gorgeousness of these pale pink peonies.
I planted these peonies three years ago and they are just now beginning to put on a good show. I cannot wait to see them again next spring!
8/10 for the browning peonies.
2. Bright Spring Bulbs
This spring flower arrangement was the first one I did in 2024, and I absolutely fell in love with it. We have been working at getting more bulbs planted in our gardens, and this was the first year I had enough flowers to make a large arrangement like this one.
This was also the first time I’d grown fluffy double daffodils (try saying that 5 times fast) like these Replete daffodils, and they just stole my heart.
I do wish I could’ve gotten longer stems on the blue muscari, but I don’t mind too much that they’re all down at the bottom. 9/10.
1. Sylvia Dahlias and Triple the Amaranth
This is one the last bouquets I made of the year, and I’m so happy with how it turned out. I wish I had done a better job with photos because I think the bouquet actually looked a lot better in person than in pictures. I think the tan and red amaranths and grass plumes add so much movement.
I love the texture and white pops from the globe amaranth. Of course the Sylvia dahlias look absolutely pristine in here.
I’m also glad I chose this smokey gray vase. I usually struggle with arranging in this vase, but I love the color, so I’m glad it worked out well this time!
I just love the colors and textures in this one, and I hope to recreate it again next year. This one is a 10/10 for me!
Learning and Growing Every Year
I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my flowers and reading my thoughts on them. Flower growing and arranging is still pretty new to me, but I love the challenge of learning and refining a new skill.
In 2025, I’m looking forward to continuing to refine my skills and learn more about flowers.
Being able to play with flowers like this is such a gift of simple living and an absolute pleasure to do.
Do you grow or arrange flowers? What are some of your favorite flower varieties? Leave a comment down below!