DIY: A Bouquet of Tulips, Lilacs, and Peonies

Or how to bring nature into your home in spring 🌷

May 04, 2025

After the cold winter we had, I was lucky to enjoy some truly beautiful flowers this spring – perfect for creating this bouquet of tulips, lilacs, and peonies. Tulips especially love cooler temperatures, which turned out to be a blessing after last year’s rather lackluster bloom.

Last October, I ordered a few new varieties, and I completely fell for two in particular: Callahan, with its warm brown-orange tones that resemble a peony, and Doll’s Minuet, with its elegant lily-like shape and deep carmine red petals.

The bouquet I’m sharing in this tutorial was made for our Easter table. And since the holiday falls quite late in April this year, I was able to include other flowers from the garden too – camellias, lilacs, and even a few early peonies.

Tulips, like dahlias, are among my favorite flowers for making bouquets. There’s such a wonderful variety of shapes and colors that you can truly have fun creating all kinds of arrangements – whether bold and extravagant for a dining table or an entryway, or simpler and more delicate, like a little bundle to brighten up a room.

I often place a seasonal bouquet in the kitchen or on the bedside table in our bedroom. It makes me feel even more in tune with nature and the rhythm of the seasons.

Flowers for this bouquet

Camellia (two beautiful branches)
Purple lilacs from the garden (two different varieties, names unknown)
Pink peonies
Callahan tulips
Double Sugar tulips
Black Parrot tulips
Florosa tulips
Doll’s Minuet tulips
Estella Rijnveld tulips
Nachtwacht tulips
Red Wave tulips

Here I am in the garden, picking tulips for this bouquet. We usually plant the bulbs quite late in autumn – mostly out of lack of time – generally toward the end of November.

We always mix garden soil with a bit of compost at the bottom of each hole to give the bulbs the best chance to grow in healthy conditions.

After that, it’s no longer up to us – nature takes care of the rest.

Step 1

In a large vase filled with water, start by placing the three lilac stems in a triangle. Remove any excess leaves or small branches beforehand.

Step 2

Next, add beautiful camellia branches on either side of the lilacs, placing them face to face. Choose stems with flower buds or blooms already open.

Step 3

Then, add the peonies (I had two), again placing them opposite one another to create a balanced structure in both volume and color.

Step 4

I begin adding the tulips by selecting the tallest ones first (Florosa), whose soft, arching stems give a lovely flowing shape. These should stand out a little, as they — along with the Doll’s Minuet, with their graphic, lily-like silhouette — bring a sense of structure to the bouquet. Remove any excess foliage before placing them in the vase.

Step 5

I continue with medium-height tulips like Callahan, Black Parrot, and a single Estella Rijnveld.

Step 6

To finish, I add more voluminous tulips with a peony-like appearance — such as the Nachtwacht — which help fill the center of the bouquet. Even though they’re shorter, they stay in place easily between the other stems, without needing to be pushed to the bottom of the vase.