We Asked Florists Their Favorite Budget-Friendly Flowers For A Perfect Fall Bouquet

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Fall is an incredibly exciting season, and not just because of the festivals and family gatherings it entails. Nature marks the shortening of days and plummeting temperatures by dressing trees in vivid colors of red, orange, bronze, or brown, creating attractive displays. Indoors, homeowners embrace the same autumnal fervor by emulating these colors in their décor arrangements, with hideously carved pumpkins for company.

So, to help you wield some fall magic as you decorate your home with flowers, House Digest exclusively interviewed two floral experts for their picks of affordable blooms and the way to arrange them in vases for maximum impact. While mums were, unsurprisingly, common to both bouquets (they're such a fall staple, after all), the experts diverged heavily on companions. While Kim Zimmerman, owner of Rowdy Poppy, decided to spruce up her floral arrangement with fall-colored leaves, Nicole Dillon, micro-flower farmer and owner of Breemar Flower Farm, based in Ashland, VA, used pretty berries, cherry tomatoes, and herbs in her arrangement. As you can see, both sound exceedingly sensational, and here's the scoop on how you can master their look without breaking the bank. (Hint: Decent foraging skills will help price the bouquet down.)

If you'd like to take a traditional approach to bouquets, using seasonal flowers as the highlight while grasses and stems fill it out, follow Zimmerman's approach. "Budget-friendly blooms I would go for include chrysanthemums, zinnias, grasses, and small branches with turning leaves," she said in her exclusive interview with House Digest. Explaining her reasons for choosing this combination, she elaborated, "I am a big fan of chrysanthemums for their forms, colors, and vase life — plus they tend to be more affordable. These are workhorses and can last up to several weeks in a vase, so we love them."

To complement these fall favorites, she goes in with zinnias, which you may know are colorful annuals that are often planted near perennial mums for late-season color. "Zinnias are wonderful late summer flowers that just keep coming until frost hits. They are abundant, easy to grow, and, depending on the colors you find, they can lean into elegant palettes or into casual, playful ones," she stated. If you intend to use these bouquets as centerpieces, consider using double-form zinnias as they appear fuller, and strip them of their foliage. That should bring out their true form while still complementing the shrubby-looking mums.

Apart from playing with the floral shades and forms, Zimmerman adds textural contrast to her floral bouquets with grasses, cheekily adding that you can grab them cheaply if you've a pair of scissors on you as you explore your area's fall colors. "This time of year, it's so easy to forage for beautiful grasses and seedheads that bring in a beautiful textural element to bouquets. Don't be afraid to snip some alley or sidewalk stems — you can't beat the price!" she added in her exclusive House Digest interview.

To top off her floral bouquet, she pulls in elements that reflect fall in its truest form: sprigs sporting fall-changing leaves. "... Though short-lived, it's such a treat to snip a small branch or two from a tree or shrub that is displaying autumn-turning leaves and include that with your blooms. I feel that it grounds us in time and place to have these kinds of ephemeral and local flora," Zimmerman explained. Maples, oaks, and hickories offer the best fall colors, though your location may limit your options.

Now that you've gathered these flowers in your favorite shades, you can't just toss them into the vase carelessly — not on Zimmerman's watch, at least. "As for arranging these elements, I would use the branches first as the supporting framework for the rest of your stems," she explained in her exclusive chat with House Digest. She does warn that this support might be insufficient for broad-rimmed vases, though there's a good workaround. "If you're using a vase with a wide mouth, place a ball of chicken wire in first for added support," she advised.

Since Zimmerman associates the autumn season with richness and fullness, she wants her floral arrangement to echo this vibe by going heavy on flowers. "Autumn translates to abundance in my mind, so this feels like it should be very flower-forward and full rather than sparse," she clarified. Elaborating on the next steps, she added, "I would fill in with lots of chrysanthemums down low and layer outwards to fully cover the wire in the vase. Then go in with clusters of zinnias and small bunches of grasses and seedheads, creating a very lush form." Since you'd want to keep your cut flowers fresh for longer, she concluded with a helpful piece of advice: "Don't forget to change the water out every day for the best vase life!" Using commercial cut flower food offerings, such as these from the Floralife Store, can also be useful.

During her exclusive conversation with House Digest, Dillon suggested taking a more out-of-the-box approach and focusing on selections that can be freely gathered from your own landscape or backyard to keep it affordable. "Think berries like nandina or crape myrtle, grasses like bunny tails or other seed heads, vegetables like cherry tomatoes and okra pods, goldenrod is often plentiful, and even ageratum," she counted off.

For flowers, she looks toward coneflowers — with or without petals. "Coneflowers are another great one, if the petals are spent, pull them off and use the cone as an interesting textural element," she stated. But if you're on a tight budget, she feels mums will be a friendlier option. "There are great local, US farms that ship heirloom cut flower mums ... Many heirloom mums could be dahlia substitutes at half the price per stem." She also made the case for fall-blooming aster varieties like 'Monte Cassino,' which produces dainty sprays of white petals and sunflowers for that Thanksgiving aesthetic.

If you'd like the floral bouquet to be fragrant, she proposed utilizing marigolds, though not all may appreciate their fragrance. "Marigold scent is like cilantro, you love it or hate it, but the secret if the scent is a turn off to you is to simply remove the foliage," she advised. She also encouraged the use of basil as a foliage. After it has bolted, use the flowers for a divine smell.

To bring Dillon's favorite selections to life, here are the steps you must take. "First, you add your foliage, basil, or other foraged leaves." She especially likes the purple-tinged leafy bracts of eastern beebalm (Monarda bradburiana), as they're stunning in the fall and hold up well. With the bouquet's base in place, she recommends following up with linear flowers, like the 'Monte Cassino' asters. "This sets the height of your arrangement at no more than 1½ – 2 times the height of your container," she explained during her exclusive House Digest interview.

Later, go in heavy with mums and marigolds; they'll serve as the primary focus of the arrangement. "After that, you can add your airy elements such as a grass, amaranth, or millet," Dillon advised. As a final step, she recommended adding fun accents to bring more interest to the fall bouquet.

As an aside, Dillon does offer a friendly reminder about foraging in public spaces. "If you are foraging on a property other than your own, remember to ask permission before cutting anything. Many public parks prohibit removing plant material from their property," she stated. If that's the case, take this as your cue to inculcate friendly relationships with your neighbors who maintain nice landscapes. With a wave and smile, you might snag a few interesting cuttings from their yards, too.