I think vases are for whatever you have to put in them at the time, but if you want to know totally conventional looks, look through a florist's magazine or ads, or go to the florist or the grocery store and see what they have in their case. Or go to any of the flowers-for-sale sites online and look at theirs.

I have Martha Stewart's flower arranging book. It has lots of ideas and illustrations for various vase shapes and many different flowers. I didn't find it useful for selling my arrangements (they sold without the vases they were displayed in) but it's pretty good for ideas for decorating my own home or for gift arrangements.

Jeanne

I agree w/Jeanne - but find as a still learning 'designer' that I like the ginger jar style, it works to arrange flowers in a crosswise manner (i.e. put them in on opposite sides and create a weblike structure with your stems to support the flower arrangement). But, the narrow neck vases work for tulips, wide mouth for big arrangements, and rose bowls for small rounded arrangements!

You might try the Calif. Cut Flower Commission for tips!
Have fun experimenting, we all have our own style!

Here is a link that might be useful: Calif Cut Flower Commission

I happened to go to the library yesterday and checked on flower arranging. There were dozens of books. The 2 or 3 I looked at included containers (vases) and how to use them. Is there a good library near you?

Jeanne

Thanks for the info everyone, we have a small library (on an Air Force Base), so I'll check to see what they have.

I'll also check the link provided.

I came across this site on flower arranging you might find useful from the University of Illinois. A pdf file that can be downloaded and copied

Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Flower Arranging Univ of Illinois

I found a short widemouth vase that is perfect for a single Camelia flower. The vase is only 2 inches tall, the mouth 3 inches across, and the width at the widest part 5 inches across. A Camelia flower lasted an entire week for me in it, probably due to the fact that I could cut the stem extremely short. Maybe there is a rule somewhere about how long to cut a Camelia stem. In my experience, cutting a Camelia stem perhaps 5 inches long to stand in a narrow vase causes the Camelia to wilt within hours. Cutting the stem to about 1 inch works wonders if you have the right bowl for it.

Camellias last well when floated in a rose bowl. Gardenias too.

I think the most important things to remember about flower arranging are: always bleach out your vases/buckets/containers between uses and no foliage in the water. Changing the water often and cutting with a sharp tool is important too.

Arrange the flowers in whatever vases you like and don't be afraid to cut down the stems. Putting in a framework of foliage and filler flowers before heavier flowers helps when using wide mouthed vases.