I bought a bunch of blue delphiniums in the supermarket for £2.99 and managed to spread them across six containers. Don't be fooled that you always need to buy loads of flowers to create an impact in a vase. Tiny delicate vases or bottles with just one or two little stems can also look stunning, especially if you place them in the right setting.

Are you one of those who buys a bunch of flowers and either just puts them in a vase or strips off some of the lower foliage and throws it away before putting in the vase.  I try to maximise every part of the flowers that I buy because they are expensive and I hate waste so I never throw away anything without thinking how I could use it — shoots, foliage etc. It's amazing what you can achieve and I always see it as a challenge!

Delphiniums have a lot of small shoots off the main stem and I stripped these away and put them in smaller vases and bottles. The main blooms now have more chance to last longer because the side shoots are not taking nutrition away from the blooms.  By the way, make sure you put a drop of bleach in the water of your vases as this keeps the water from smelling bad and also stops rims forming on your vases.  Take it from me, as an ex-florist, it works!

Three are small vintage bottles that I picked up in a second hand shop. Look out for these as they make a lovely display when grouped together.  The two pale pink glass vases in the rear of the photo are from the Designers Guild and look stunning in a bedroom with just one or two stems. 

I've just bought another bunch of flowers from my local florist for half price (£3.00) as they were a bit past their best.  I can't remember the name of them. Anyone know?  They are similar to Delphiniums in that they have a lot of offshoots so I have added their offshoots to the vases (aren't they beautiful subtle colours).