A wide variety of flowers displayed to perfection. Decor ideas featuring cut geraniums

With their diverse blooms, geraniums not only look great in tubs, boxes, pots or beds, but also make a great cut flowers. As these flowering plants tirelessly produce new blossoms from spring through to autumn, it’s no problem if you cut their flower stems. In fact, it stimulates even more flower formation. The experts at Pelargonium for Europe (PfE) offer some decorating ideas featuring cut geranium stems or flowers that are easy to recreate and show off the colourful diversity of these low-maintenance summer flowers perfectly, both indoors and out.

Geraniums are so much more than red or pink trailing plants that adorn facades, balconies or lampposts. These easy-care blooming marvels are among the most versatile summer flowers of all. Their blooms dazzle, not only in red and pale pink, but also in hot pink, lilac, violet, salmon, orange, white and even in two or more colours at the same time. Geraniums come in large, medium and small sizes and with single, semi-double and double flowers. Some look like tulips or roses, others like stars or butterflies. Decoration ideas using them as cut flowers emphasise their rich colours and variety of shapes especially well.

Whether large or small, in combination with other plant material, or as a single variety arrangement, a summer bouquet is an effortless way to show off the beauty of geraniums.

In this summer bouquet (left), various geranium varieties have been combined with statice (Limonium Latifolium), sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), decorative seed heads and lady’s mantle (Alchemilla Mollis) from the garden.

This mini bouquet (right) consists of two types of geranium and a different variety of statice (Limonium Latifolium). The distinctive mini-vase attracts attention on the coffee table and makes a surprise little gift.

Geranium bouquets don’t just make great gifts or summer table decorations, however. Mini vases filled with their colourful blooms can even turn a plain fence into an attractive feature instantly.

Whether detergent, soap or drinking yoghurt, disposable plastic containers are everywhere. If you don’t want to throw them away, you can quickly turn them into trendy, upcycled vases to display geraniums beautifully, together with grasses and other summer flowers.

For this cheerful summer craft idea, all you need is empty plastic containers, sandpaper, spray paint, cut geraniums and other florals of your choice.

Here’s how to do it:

Wash the containers well and remove the labels. Lightly roughen the plastic surface with sandpaper so he paint sticks better and spray the containers with your choice of colours. As soon as the paint is dry, you can fill your upcycled vases with water and add the geraniums and other florals.

Tip: The final result is even better if you combine containers of different sizes, shapes and colours.

Their wide range of flower colours and shapes make geraniums an ideal choice for flower arrangements in floral foam. This sumptuous wreath makes a pretty feature on fences, walls and doors, while these colourful flower balls are perfect for dressing bowls.

Tip: Place the foam op top of a bucket of water and allow them to sink into the water for one to two minutes to soak fully. Then push the cut flower stems into the foam close together, with heads touching to avoid gaps.

A homemade wooden ladder hanging in the air or lying on its side makes an attractive frame for hanging floral arrangements. Glass bottles filled with cut geraniums are an original alternative to the classic hanging basket. This rustic deco idea is simple and cheap to make.

For this unique design idea, you need thick straight branches, a saw, a cordless screwdriver, screws and strong twine. You also need upright geraniums and empty glass bottles.

Here’s how to make it: Use the saw to cut two long branches for the sides of the ladder and three shorter ones for the rungs.

Connect the side to the rungs by placing the shorter branches on top of the longer ones and fixing them with screws. Wrapping twine around the joints provides additional stability. Tip: It’s all right if it looks a bit crooked as that’s exactly what gives this rustic geranium ladder its charm.

Now attach the bottles to the rungs with string, fill with water and place cut geraniums inside. Tip: If you hang the bottles at different heights, the overall look will be more dynamic.

When a number of people get together for a meal, there’s often no space left on the table for flowers next to the dishes, food and drinks. These bottles filled with colourful geraniums suspended from their branch frame and hung above the table, make a fabulous alternative to the classic table decoration.

Geraniums love to flower. With the right care and mild temperatures, they will bloom profusely and continuously from spring until well into autumn, tirelessly producing new flowers. This means taking geranium stems as cut flowers is no problem at all for the plants.

If the blooms are cut or picked off at the bottom of the stem, this has the same effect as pruning: it promotes flower formation. After a short time, the plant will bloom even more abundantly than before.

To make cut geraniums last, they need to have their water changed regularly. Dirty water causes the stems to deteriorate more quickly. Adding a flower food also prolongs the vase life of the geraniums. It’s also important to make sure no leaves come into contact with the water. Strip any leaves that will be below the water line before placing the stems in a vase.

Detailed advice on all aspects of geraniums is available from specialist retailers.