I don’t know about you, but I have to admit that I am a bit of a floral snob. Fake flowers just don’t cut it for me. Especially the ones that people put outside in pots when everyone knows that hydrangeas aren’t blooming in Minnesota in May, and geraniums don’t survive here in January.
However, a recent trip to Bachman’s (my local nursery/florist) really made me rethink my aversion to faux stems.
As you locals already know, here in Minnesota it’s still too early for gardening. Today’s forecast calls for a low of 25. Ugh. After seeing all of those gorgeous window boxes in Charleston, I just really needed to splurge on something green and pretty though. So I decided to head to Bachman’s for some pansies.
Pansies are a cold hearty plant. They can tolerate temps down to around 25, although if it’s going to be much lower than that you should cover them (I’ll throw old bed sheets over mine if the temps get any lower). This makes them a great choice for us northern gardeners who just want to have something growing in early spring (and P.S. locals, they were 50% off at Bachman’s last Friday, not sure if they still are on sale this week though).
I found my pansies at Bachman’s, but I also found something else that I wasn’t really expecting; a huge selection of faux flower stems.
And honestly, I thought they weren’t at all fakey looking. Plus they had what I felt were some unique choices. Just check out this fake astilbe.
If anything, it looks even better than the real stuff.
I guess Bachman’s is faking it till they make it with lots of faux options before true gardening season starts.
As a sidenote, check out those green lanterns. That’s almost the exact color of the Sweet Pickins’ In a Pickle, or Dixie Belle’s Kudzu. I am really loving this shade of green lately, and it looks like I’m not the only one.
Lately I’d been wishing I had a few more fake flowers on hand to use when staging photos for the blog. All I had on hand was some fake lavender.
Which meant I had to go out and buy real flowers whenever I wanted to use them in photos.
Not that it’s the end of the world, but I don’t always want to take the time to run to the florist.
I’d been looking at the fake flowers at the various thrift shops, and they tend to look a bit tacky to me. Plus the prices often seem to be weirdly high on them. I’d also looked at Hobby Lobby, but the day I was there they weren’t on sale and the regular prices there are also a bit on the high side.
So when I realized that the faux stems were 20% off at Bachmans, and the prices were actually fairly reasonable (their prices are often on the higher end too), I decided to grab a few to have on hand as photo props.
Just check out these grape hyacinths.
Aren’t they fab? You guys are certainly going to see more of them in the future.
I couldn’t resist this columbine either.
Isn’t that lovely.
I had to have some white peonies. The season for real peonies from the garden is always so short (although this year I will definitely be saving some buds in the fridge for later, check out my experiment with that from last year).
And then I grabbed just a couple of pink choices.
Some ranunculus and some cherry blossoms.
I’d been tucking my faux lavender in a french bucket that I keep on the top of the cabinet on my front porch. That kept it handy for grabbing for photos.
But now that I’ve added a few more stems, it’s looking pretty good.
I may just have to display them somewhere more prominent so that I can enjoy them on the regular.
So what are your thoughts on faux flowers? Are you a flower snob like me, or do you prefer flowers that don’t require any care at all? Leave a comment and let us know.
q is for quandie 
I have to say, faux flowers/ greenery have come along way. While I don’t use any outdoors, I do use it inside and have come across some very nice stems. Hang in there, planting time is coming!
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It sure is taking it’s sweet time this year, or is it me? Maybe now that I’m retired it just seems like spring is taking forever to get here. I’m chomping at the bit to get out there and garden!
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I buy fake flowers at the Goodwill outlet because they are ridiculously cheap and I use them to create wreaths and to use as props for displaying ironstone and other pieces that might be a little plain. The good ones always attract me but I do buy some of the cheapie ones for filler in wreaths. I love the fake greenery that is good quality, it adds good contrast for florals. I also buy wreaths that are in good shape or unusual.
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I’ve heard people say they find them at Goodwill or other thrift stores, but so far my Goodwill stores just have sad, faded looking fake plants. Or, if they are nice, they are priced nearly as high as the new ones!
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I was definitely a floral snob until maybe last year when I found some of the ‘real-touch’ tulips. Now I have several real-looking pots of greenery my house and some faux Hydrangeas that are beautiful-sadly it’s too hot here in Texas in my yard because I have very little shade and the sun is too hot in summer for Hydrangeas.
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Yep, the fakes have definitely come a long way!
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Well, Miss Quandie, I firmly believe that fake-it-’till-you-make-it is a wonderful philosophy for all of life (except brain surgery)! Don’t inflict your “bad breath” mood on other people! Hahahahahaha………if nothing terrible or sad is going on in your life, remain cheerful just for that reason! About fake flowers and greenery, the good ones look SO REAL these days! My husband brings me flowers pretty often and sometimes I secretly think to myself: shucks, now I have to cut the ends off and put them in a vase, what a drag……..just a peek into my not-a-good person side! Anyway, I do have some good fakes tucked here and there 😀
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How sweet that your husband brings you flowers on the regular. He must be a keeper!
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I’m pretty much a faux flower snob. But I live in South Carolina and our growing season is very long. We put pansies in late October and are just taking them out now due to the heat. On the down side we have awful humidity which bring all manner or blights and diseases. I like to dry flowers from my garden like lavender and hydrangeas which look great for years. We also have a aTrader Joe’s and a Costco that carry a wonderful selection of seasonal blooms like tulips, hyacinths and sunflowers too. The one I make an exception for are orchids. I’ve seen some exceptionally good looking fakes.
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Ah, so you put your pansies in and keep them all winter. How fab is that?! But I will say that humidity almost knocked me over. Every single day of our recent trip to Charleston was a bad hair day for me 🙂
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I love the faux columbine! I’ve never seen it in a faux version before…great find!!
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I don’t know that I’d ever seen it before either. It really caught my eye because it was so real looking!
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I’m the same way. Fake flowers just look too fake. I have been turned onto Afloral.com and they have dried plants (and lavender)! I’m using that as a placeholder until this grey cold MN weather finally turns. We all need some spring in this state! It’s been a long winter.l.l.
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Amen to that! Just looked at the 10 day forecast, cold, cloudy, 40’s, ugh!
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I love to mix faux flowers with the real flowers. I have done this for several weddings and celebrations. I buy the flowers and greens that look real. There are some beautiful ones out. You pay more but can get them on sale or specials. It helps your psyche to buy some when you have had too long of a winter. Can brighten your day.
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Great idea, mixing faux and real. I may have to try that for future photo shoots.
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Used to avoid anything fake/plastic and put a lot of effort trying to keep indoor plants during never-ending winter. But recently changed my mind and grabbed a few faux steams for staging my photos. So in my mind it’s still a big ‘no’, but in reality i’m slowly introducing it to my decor.
Your flowers are very nice Linda! Those white peonies in green box…. yummy!
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Yep, sounds like we’re on the same wavelength here 🙂
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We have a window box above our garage. Way too high to water. I use seasonal faux flowers in these including geraniums starting in May along with daisies. The faux flowers even fool our hummingbirds!
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I’ve always wondered how people take care of those out of reach window boxes! Now I know your little secret 😉
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They do look really real.
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Being in Maine, our growing season is short also. I’m itching to see my perennials bloom but in the meantime I’ve picked up some very real looking faux flowers for inside the house. Some of the greenery that is made now looks so real!
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