
No vase needed! Tie a beautiful tulip bouquet that stands on its own
This modern tulip bouquet easily stands on its own on a shallow dish with just a little water at the bottom. You’ll need sturdy-stemmed tulips, dried flowers, grasses, and twigs or branches. The bouquet is secured with rubber bands and wool yarn. Master florist Saija Sitolahti shows you how it’s done!
Tulip bouquet on a dish—what you’ll need:
- 40–50 tulips still in bud
- hare’s-tail or other dried flowers
- blueberry twigs, meadowsweet, or other branches from your garden
- ornamental grasses (or look for some fun winter stalks in nature)
- wool yarn
- rubber bands or rubber string
- clippers
- a shallow dish or a low vase.

Your finished tulip bouquet will last a long time if you move it to a cool place overnight.
Here’s how to tie the tulip bouquet
1. Remove the lower leaves from the tulips, leaving just one leaf at the top.

2. Assemble the bouquet on a table so it’s easier to handle the thick bundle. Alternate placing a tulip, a blueberry twig, and a dried flower so their tops line up. Add dried flowers and thin-stemmed materials in small bunches.

3. Tulips have thick stems, so your fingers may not reach around a wide bouquet. Make one or two intermediate ties with a rubber band. This helps keep the bouquet together, even if you can’t hold it all at once.
4. Set the bouquet down on the table and slip any remaining flowers under the rubber band.

5. Use clippers to trim all the stems to the same length.

6. Tie the bouquet with wool yarn. Wrap plenty of yarn to create a wide, eye-catching band.

7. When the bouquet is thick enough, it will stand on its own. Place it on a dish with a couple centimeters of water.
