How to make artificial flowers look natural: 4 tips and the right care

The most common question about artificial flowers is not “How long do they last?” but “Can you tell?”. The honest answer: up close, with the bloom in your hand, yes. An attentive eye spots the difference. At normal distance and in photos, almost never. Whether an arrangement looks natural or artificial is decided mainly by four things that have nothing to do with the bloom itself.

Four tips to make artificial flowers look natural

1. The vessel

A clear glass vase without water gives artificial flowers away fastest. Everyone knows that flowers in glass stand in water. If it is missing, that stands out before the eye even reaches the bloom. Ceramic, stoneware, a basket or opaque glass look entirely natural. If you really want clear glass, fill it with decorative gravel or resin water.

2. An odd number

Three, five or seven main blooms look calmer than four or six. It is an old florists’ rule, and it works surprisingly reliably. With artificial flowers even more so, because any regularity strengthens the impression of something “made”.

3. Different heights

Nothing in nature grows to exactly the same height. Stems cut to the same length are the second most common giveaway. Five to seven different cutting lengths immediately look livelier. Artificial flower stems have a wire inside for exactly this reason: bend each stem slightly; none should stand dead straight. To shorten them you need side cutters. Household scissors tend to crush the wire rather than cut through it.

4. Greenery in between

A bouquet of blooms alone, without foliage, looks as if it came straight out of a catalogue. Eucalyptus, fern or a few sprigs between the blooms take the stiffness out of the arrangement and fill the gaps. It is the cheapest and most effective tip of all, and the detail that most often decides between natural and artificial.

Three more tips

• Arrange more densely than you think. A thin-looking arrangement loses its effect. Reckon with around a fifth more stems than you first estimate.
• Heavy blooms at the bottom. Large blooms low, small ones high. That gives stability and matches the way a plant grows.
• Up to three colours. More quickly looks restless. Two colours plus green are almost always enough.

How to care for artificial flowers

Dust is the only real enemy in everyday life. Care comes down to two appointments, and neither of them is urgent:

• Every two to four weeks: dust them. A soft brush, a feather duster or a microfibre cloth is enough. A hairdryer on the cool setting, held at some distance, gets into the gaps better than any cloth. If you react to house dust, better do this every one to two weeks with a slightly damp cloth that binds the dust instead of stirring it up.
• Twice a year: clean more thoroughly. Spray with lukewarm water or rinse briefly under the shower, without pressure on the blooms, then leave to dry in an airy spot. No washing-up liquid needed; if there is a stubborn film of kitchen grease, use one drop and rinse well.

That is all the work. And if you do it two weeks late, you lose nothing, unlike with changing the water.

The second enemy: the sun

What actually ages artificial flowers is constant direct sunlight. Over time it bleaches colours. A spot that does not sit in the midday sun for hours keeps the colours fresh considerably longer. Bloomli deliberately does not give a lifespan in months here: it depends on the location, and there is no figure that applies to every home.

If something arrives bent

Artificial flowers are packed folded. After unpacking, leaves and blooms often lie flat. That is normal and fixed in a minute: bend the stems apart, straighten the leaves one by one, open the blooms slightly with your fingers. Stubborn creases in leaves come out with warm water or a hairdryer on a low setting. The material softens and can be brought back into shape.

How to recognise good quality

• Matt surface. Glossy blooms look artificial from any distance. Good real-touch blooms are matt and have visible veining.
• Bendable stem with wire. A stem that cannot be bent cannot take on a natural shape.
• Colour gradients in the bloom. Real blooms are never a single flat colour. A slight gradient towards the edge or the centre makes the difference.
• Neatly finished leaf joints. Where leaf meets stem is where glue residue shows fastest.

What Bloomli looks for in material and workmanship is on the page Why Bloomli.

Read on

If you want to put together an arrangement from scratch yourself, you will find the detailed guide with a materials list, building up the heights and the most common beginner’s mistakes in the article Arranging artificial flowers. Answers on delivery time, material and returns are under Frequently asked questions.

Matching range

Single stems for combining are under Single stems, ready-tied versions among the bouquets. The right vessel (tip 1) is under Vases & decor, the greenery for tip 4 among the hanging plants.