When we think of flower arrangements and bouquets, we too often think of just perennial or annual flowers. There are, however, shrubs that can make great contributions to your bouquet or arrangement.
One such shrub is the hydrangea. Many different hydrangeas are on the market, but they all tend to have similar qualities. Whether the bloom is flat such as in the mop head hydrangeas (Hydreangea macrophylla), or elongated as in the oak leaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia), they are composed of many smaller flowers. Groups of individual flowers can be clipped apart, in a similar fashion to dividing a cauliflower head into florets. Additionally the flowers, when they dry, hold the same as color when picked, be that pink or blue in the case of the common hydrangeas, white in the oak leaf, and a dusty pink/beige color when the bloom has matured. So these flowers can be used from summer all the way through to fall, and the dried material throughout the winter too. This feature makes them a bonus for dried arrangements as well as fresh ones.
Andromeda (Pieris japonica) is an old fashioned shrub that is still found on older landscapes, as well as some smaller ones where they are using the smaller, newer varieties. This attractive shrub gives bright red leaves in the spring, but it has unique flowers that are useful for arrangements. The pre-flowers are formed in the late fall and are maintained through the winter months in a thick protective layer. Each spring the layer comes off and the flowers bloom. For late season bouquets though they make a terrific addition. The pale pre-flowers are off-white in color and are held in a drooping form, several flowers together on one stem. These flowers can be used in indoor arrangements as well throughout the winter and they will come into bloom within a week or so. Outdoors they can be used to decorate winter wreaths as well and will stay tightly closed.
Callicarpa is another old-fashioned shrub that grows well in the understory of trees, and is a dainty open shrub. The common name for Callicarpa is beautyberry and it is well named because the color of the berries in fall is iridescent purple/pink. The numerous berries appear late in the season but will remain on the stem throughout the winter making them a bonus for winter bouquets and arrangements. There are two Callicarpas on the market today: American Callicarpa (Callicarpa Americana) and the Japanese Callicarpa (Callicarpa dichotoma). The American is an endangered native shrub that grows in zones 7-10. The Japanese version is more prolific flower-wise, and slightly hardier, growing in zones 5-8. Both of these have varieties bearing white berry varieties: var. lectea is the white variety in the American callicarpa, and var. Albafructus is the Japanese variety.
If you have a need for white flowers in the early summer, the spirea shrub has some admirable qualities. Many generations have used spirea in the garden but one has been a feature in American gardens since it was first introduced in 1880 or so. That is the infamous Bridal Wreath Spirea (Spiraea x vanhouttei) also known as Vanhoutte. Long branches are filled with pure white flowers each spring. Each of the individual flowers are little white balls and small sprigs of these make terrific additions to spring bouquets and arrangements. The shrub is very hardy too, growing as far north as zone 3!
These are just a few samples of shrubs that can be used to fill out bouquets and flower arrangements, throughout the year. They are particularly useful at times of the year when there are not many flower blooms around such as early spring and in the cooler fall months. All of the above are pest free and easy to care for, to make them a delight to see both in the garden and in arrangements.