How to Make a Fall Arrangement From Foraged Flowers

No season offers more spectacular color than fall. As the weather cools, it's also the ideal time to survey your yard and nearby forests and farms for foraged elements to add to your fall arrangements. Experts recommend you first ask permission before picking flowers on any property not your own.

Though many attribute spring and summer with the most abundant blooms, fall offers thrilling options as the season changes and colors deepen.

Atlanta floral designer Skye Lin of Pinker Times, recently named to Forbes Under 30 Class of 2024, has had her work featured in Vogue and Architectural Digest and her clients include Mariah Carey, Future and Barack Obama.

Skye likes to feature foraged elements in her arrangements as a sustainable gesture: Instead of shipping blooms from around the world and increasing one's carbon footprint, she recommends finding the elements for your bouquet close to home.

She also likes to select flowers that she knows will dry well to use in future arrangements.

There are a variety of materials to be found through foraging, including seed pods, branches, dried flowers, leaves and even weeds.

Skye recommends a variety of options to be gathered from the fall landscape including ninebark, maple leaves, vines, basil that has bolted and even fruit and vegetables to add texture and interest to your arrangement.

"I suggest people use things already in the garden that aren't flowers but that read as flowers" says Skye.

For this fall arrangement Skye started with a variety of heirloom chrysanthemums in four rich colors from a local farm. She used iris for an infusion of contrasting violet color and Queen Anne's lace in a striking yellow to add drama and verticality.

Though chrysanthemums are a fall standard, Skye notes that in Asia they are more typically associated with mourning.

Skye chose a crock-style vessel to give an earthy, naturalistic look to her arrangement. Skye finds her vases at stores like Target, CB2 and Crate & Barrel but also at thrift stores and antique stores where, she says, "they have this charm you can't get from a new item." She also likes to pick up special bud vases during her travels.

When shopping for or foraging for flowers, try to place your botanicals next to each other to see how they will work together, she says.

To start your arrangement, arrange thin strips of floral tape in a grid pattern over the opening of your vase to give your flowers some structure so that they won't droop or fall to the side.

Think about the first wash of color in a painting when adding the first flowers to your arrangement, says Skye.

She began this fall bouquet by adding deep burgundy mums to her vase to give the arrangement an ombre effect, going from dark to light tones.

Skye next added larger, dense yellow chrysanthemums and recommends as you build your arrangement that you move around the vase and step back to look at the effect and the balance of your arrangement.

She then layered in slightly deeper rust-colored chrysanthemums.

Next, Skye added the harmonious, bright colors of iris whose yellow centers blend beautifully with her yellow chrysanthemums.

Skye recommends adding the most delicate blooms last in your arrangement to protect them and to keep them from getting blocked by other more robust flowers. Finally, she layered in yellow-tinted Queen Anne's lace to add a whimsical touch to her arrangement.

Don't be precious as you build your bouquet, says Skye. Don't be afraid to take your flowers out and start again to get the right effect. She likes to use flowers of various heights and not pack them in too tightly. Negative space adds dimension to an arrangement and is more in keeping with her Asian style of flower arrangement than the more opulent and lush Western style of flower arrangements.

Want to keep your gorgeous fall flowers looking fresh? Skye says cutting the stems and changing out the water every day will refresh your blooms and also keep the arrangement from growing bacteria and becoming smelly. "Water is their oxygen," says Skye. You can also clean your vase with a little bleach and water occasionally. And to maintain the beauty of your arrangement, keep it away from heating vents.