Video: How to Use a Floral Frog for a Low, Classic Arrangement

Just in time for summer, Bunny Williams designed a variety of floral frogs to make flower arranging easier than ever. According to Bunny, anyone can create a beautiful arrangement if you’ve got the right tools. We’re not saying we didn’t take her word for it, but we did put her floral frogs to the test. We asked garden and entertaining expert, James Farmer, to help us create three unique looks using each one of Bunny’s floral frogs — and we think you’ll love the results every bit as we do.

We’ve all had that experience at a dinner party or wedding reception where we can barely see our dinner companions across the table, because of the tall arrangement right in front of us. So we told James we wanted to create a beautiful centerpiece that doesn’t thwart good dinner conversation. He knew just what to do, and chose Bunny’s adjustable-height Wire Jointed Floral Frog to get started.

“This frog works specifically well in a container that’s going to be used in a low centerpiece,” says James. “I love to use a centerpiece that’s low and mounded, so folks can talk to one another over the centerpiece.”

Step 1:

Choose a low, wide vase and place the floral frog at the bottom. Fill the vase with water to about half way. Be sure to use lukewarm water to prevent shocking your newly cut stems.

Step 2:

Start with placing your foliage, or filler, in the frog. James recommends using evergreen branches from your yard, such as camellias, magnolia, seeded eucalyptus or holly. For a low arrangement, clip the stems to about a foot, and strip off any leaves or thorns from the part of the stems that go in the water. It’s best to cut the stems at an angle using a pair of clippers — scissors can crush the stem —  to allow for better intake of water.

Step 3:

Round out the arrangement with flowers. James loves to use roses for easy, low-mounding arrangements, and he chose coral for a fun pop of color. Place your flowers in groups of three for a bigger impact.

Step 4:

Add your final flourishes to really elevate your arrangement. James went for the fresh appeal of citrus. Simply cut various citrus, such as limes and blood oranges, into halves and spear them with a sturdy skewer and tuck into the arrangement.

Beautiful! And now we have the perfect excuse to start planning our next dinner party.

Find Bunny Williams’ Floral Frogs here, or browse her entire collection for Ballard Designs. For more inspiration, watch all of our videos on our Video Gallery page.