How to Get the Perfect Ginger Jar Floral Arrangement

An easy 5 step tutorial to create the perfect ginger jar floral arrangement with expert tricks to make it stunning and lush!

Ok ladies, I have a pet peeve to confess today: teeny tiny florals in classic ginger jars. You know the ones I’m talking about where the flowers just barely peek above the opening of the jar, looking like a two year old girlie’s top knot. It’s totally silly and honestly a bit skimpy. The proportions just feel all wrong!

Quite simply, ginger jars deserve luscious striking flowers that swarm above the jar in colorful array!

It’s so important to create a relationship between the florals and their vessel – one worthy of this antique treasure.

With that in mind, I’m sharing 5 steps to create the perfect ginger jar floral arrangement plus some tricks to choosing your flowers and making the arrangement lush.

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Ginger jars, especially the blue and white variety, are one of the most classic accessories in Southern decorating whether you go for pure traditional, exotic Chinoiserie, or beachy vibes. The simple contrast of the blue and white patterns pair beautifully with a variety of floral colors and can be used for any season or special occasion. If you are on the hunt for an antique ginger jar or want to learn more about their history, read this!

Pretty Ginger Jars to Add to Your Collection:

The beauty of ginger jars is undeniable, and the narrow openings and bulbous bodies make a perfect vessel for flowers although creating the perfect arrangement in them can be tricky. For starters, you need to buy flowers with long stems. The rule of thumb of classic floral arranging is to make the height of your flowers one and a half to two times the height of the vase. Don’t forget to factor in that you will need to trim the ends with a diagonal cut to revive your flowers when you get them home.

I love to use striking blooms in my ginger jar arrangements like these gorgeous dahlias. I also regularly use peonies, hydrangea, tulips, or bold greenery like magnolia. The point is you don’t want the pizzazz of the ginger jar to overwhelm the arrangement.

Color options really are endless with the classic blue and white jar. You can choose a monochromatic look and let the shapes and textures provide visual interest or go with cool or warm tones. A floral arrangement in contrasting colors can also be quite becoming. Let the season and what’s available guide you!

5 Steps to The Perfect Ginger Jar Floral Arrangement

No. 1 Create a Foundation with Greenery

To make a stunning and lush ginger jar floral arrangement you will need to use filler flowers and greenery. Since the opening of most ginger jars is small you don’t need to worry about creating a tape grid or using floral foam. Instead start your flower arrangement by strategically placing 2 or 3 types of greenery in the jar.

Here I’ve used long sweeps of fern and some sprigs of rosemary that I gathered from the yard. The greenery will provide a foundation to hold up my main flowers, the dahlias, as well as visual interest and texture.

Oh! Don’t forget to fill you jar with water before you start arranging.

No. 2 Create Your Highest Point of the Arrangement & Fill In

For this ginger jar arrangement, I chose to use the highest point at double the height of the vessel. Instead of placing that peak in the center, I moved it over to the left side for a more unique look, which is balanced out by the sweep down the right side of the jar with the fern.

If you find your flower heads wilting a bit after you get them home, which dahlias and roses are want to do, use some flower wire to keep the head up straight.

Next I started to fill in and add width to my arrangement with the other dahlias. I basically worked with halves to figure out placement, putting the center yellow dahlia in between the pink tall one and the jar then filling in with the others.

No. 3 Add Visual Interest With Contrasting Colors For the Perfect Ginger Jar Floral Arrangement

My ginger jar floral arrangement is an array of bright happy colors. Honestly, when I went to the market to pick them I simply couldn’t decide on one or two, so I just embraced the variety.

Since all my dahlias are in the warm tones, for a filler flower I went with this cool purple tone to add some contrast. It also connects well with the blue of the ginger jar.

Just nestle the filler flower in the empty spaces around your main flowers. Don’t push it in too deep as you want to keep some depth and space around each flower.

No. 4 Create Color Patterns Using Rule of 3

Almost each dahlia in this arrangement is unique, so I did try to create some cohesion by repeating the yellow and pink colors. I find the Rule of 3 really helps achieve patterns that move they eye around the design. Basically, the Rule of 3 says to use odd numbers when creating groups or patterns. So here for instance, I used three big yellow dahlias and five little pink dahlias.

No. 5 Fill in with Greenery & Play with Flower Placement

Once you have your star flowers in place, it is time to go back with some more greenery or even filler flower. Place the greenery in areas you notice significant voids and use it to project outward in different directions. This will help transition the eye from one flower to the next as well as creating a sense of volume, texture, and background allowing the star flowers to pop.

You will find that as you add more flowers and greenery you incidentally push other flowers in further or get them out of alignment. Pull the stems back out and apart if it feels like a flower has sunk inwards. Take a step back and assess the overall look and make adjustments to placement. You don’t want all your star flowers on one plane or for the arrangement to feel like a tight ball.

Expert Floral Arranging Tricks to Keep In Mind

• It’s all about proportion – height & width matter!

Be sure you make your ginger jar flower arrangement one and a half to double the height of the jar and balance the width with your height.

• Variety is key!

When choosing the flowers and greenery for your arrangement be sure to select a variety in terms of shape, size, texture, and color. Think about the shape of the flowers and choosing a mix in terms of how compact the blooms are or how airy. Greenery options with a sweeping shape or rigidity are important too.

• Make flowers last longer!

Trim about an inch off of your stems diagonally once you get them home and keep in water. Strip the leaves that will be below the water line off of the stems to make your flowers last longer and make arranging easier.

• Only one face needed!

It’s ok for an arrangement to have one face, meaning it has one direction it is meant to be viewed. If you are working with a budget or short on flowers consider this option. If you need a fully round floral arrangement, remember the sides don’t have to match perfectly. Instead it’s about balance.

• Let negative space add drama!

Varying your height and depth will help create negative space, which is so important to make an arrangement visually stimulating and adding that wow factor.

• Favor balance over symmetry!

One of the most eye pleasing and arresting floral arrangement designs is Hogarth Curve, which is an S-shaped line. This is the shape I used for my dahlia arrangement. It is an asymmetrical shape with a high point to one side and a sweeping or spilling curve down the side.

I hope you found this post on how to create the perfect ginger jar floral arrangement helpful. Now go play with some flowers ladies! Happy designing!