How to Turn Trader Joe's Flowers Into Show-Stopping Bouquets

Assembling beautiful bouquets with freshly cut flowers from your own garden is always ideal. However, if that's not possible, you can always select some blooms from your local grocery store.

Trader Joe's is primarily known for its ready-made meals, delicious spreads, and addictive snacks, but it also has a robust selection of flowers. Devotees will regularly drop in to see what flowers are in stock, even swinging by early to get the best possible selection. Like everything at Trader Joe's, these flowers are remarkably affordable, starting at around $4 for smaller bouquets and asking $20 for larger, seasonal arrangements.

The store's flowers have become so synonymous that there's even a new book dedicated to them, aptly titled Beautiful Bouquets with Trader Joe's Flowers. Here, we gathered some insight from the text—a "flower cookbook" of sorts, according to its author, Rachel Weisel—that will help you create truly show-stopping bouquets.

When and How to Shop

Obviously, the best time to shop for flowers is early in the day, as soon as you can get to the store. "I've learned from crew members that stores have order limits for some flowers, so try to get there before they're gone," writes Weisel.

Not all flowers are perfect, so it's important to inspect them a bit before selecting a bundle. Weisel recommends avoiding flowers with bruised petals, brown stems, or dying leaves—look for blooms that have only just started to open, and leave flowers with closed buds alone, as they may never open up.

If you want the scoop on what flowers are in stock at your local store, social media can be a great place to start. Instagram account @traderjoes_flowers documents what's new in the San Francisco area and has amassed an impressive following. While not every Trader Joe's across the country will have the same inventory, these sorts of resources can help you do some research before arriving at the store.

Preparation and Assembly

First, make sure you have a clean work area and a good pair of pruners. One of the most important steps is trimming the stems so that your flowers can more easily absorb water. Weisel recommends removing the leaves, or at least stripping the leaves from the bottom two-thirds of the stem. This will prevent the leaves from sitting in vase water, which she notes "will cause [them] to rot and breed bacteria, and cause the flowers to die faster."

You can remove any guard petals and thorns from flowers like roses, too. Once your flowers have been properly prepared, fill a vase with water. "Warm water nudges blooms to open, and cooler water slows wilting and prevents bacteria from growing," she writes.

Types of Bouquets

Weisel's "flower recipes" include bouquets for holidays, so it's a great go-to guide for a last-minute gift. Here, we pulled a few of our favorites:

• Mother's Day: 12 stems of pink roses, five stems of chamomile, nine stems of light pink spray roses, and three stems of blue hydrangeas. "Create an X with two roses, and place a stem of chamomile in the center," she writes. Then continue layering the stems, alternating the flowers and their positions in the "X" formation.
• Booquet: 10 orange mum stems, and six eucalyptus stems. Trim the mums and eucalyptus down so each has 3 to 4 inches of stem. Wrap them in paper, and secure it with tape. "For extra fun, stick googly eyes or stamp 'BOO!' onto the wrapping," Weisel recommends.
• Christmas: 12 red rose stems, 12 pink rose stems, eight white rose stems, and two evergreen stems. First, pour cranberries into a trifle bowl and fill it with water. Put three red roses around the edge of the bowl, sliding the stems through the cranberries. "Place three stems of pink roses between them, and keep adding roses, alternating colors, until the edge of the bowl is mostly full." Use the remaining flowers to fill in the center.