How to Add Succulent Plants to Any Floral Arrangement

Succulent floral arrangements look so modern (and unique). Here’s how you can make your own succulent bouquet on a budget.

You don’t need a green thumb for this DIY bouquet because these are not just any floral arrangements – these are succulent arrangements.

They last longer, need minimal care, and look so unique. Any plant lover would be thrilled to receive one of these beauties, don’t you think?

But even better than the fact that you won’t need a green thumb, succulents are the perfect choice for floral arrangements and bouquets because they require such little water to survive.

Which means they’ll stay fresh longer. You might even be able to plant them back in the ground once the flowers from the bouquet have died. Making it a little more sustainable than typical floral arrangements. 

How to Add Succulent Plants to Any Floral Arrangement

The other day, I was wandering around the home improvement store and found a bunch of mini succulent plants for a few dollars a piece.

I really, REALLY don’t need anymore succulents at this point, BUT I can’t resist many items under $5. Especially if it’s a plant.

So, I brought home a few of these little guys and decided to try my own version of a succulent bouquet…on a budget. 

You can wire up the succulents super easily and use them just like a normal flower in a bouquet, but I have a couple of tips and tricks to help you out if you’re looking for a guide…

How to Create Wire Stems for Succulent Arrangements

1. Remove from starter pot.

Start by removing each succulent from the starter pot they came in. 

2. Carefully remove soil and roots (optional).

Then carefully remove all the soil from the roots of the succulent as best you can. I preserved as much of the roots as I could for each succulent, so that I could re-pot them long after the flowers from the bouquet have died. 

3. Rinse soil off.

Rinse off the soil from the remaining roots as best you can and pat dry.

4. Then pierce the bottom of the stem with a wire.

Next, using a medium gauge floral wire, pierce all the way through the bottom stem area of each succulent. You want the wire to go through the stem at the thickest point possible. 

5. Pull the wire through.

Pull the end of the floral wire through the other side, once its start to poke through, and bend each end of the wire downward once the sides of the wire are an even length.

6. Twist the wire.

Twist the wire together to create a sturdy stem for the succulent. Now that the succulent has a wire stem, you can use it just as you would a regular flower in a bouquet.

Making Succulent Arrangements

Once you’ve wired up the succulents, it’s time to make the bouquets (or arrangements).

1. Add florals.

Add in the floral stems you want to use and continue with the bouquet or arrangement just as you would any other.

• If you’re making an arrangement, instead of a bouquet, check my flower arranging tips – all 8 tips come straight from a professional florist that I’ve worked with many times.
• And if you’re making a succulent bouquet instead, you can check out my tutorial for how to make a bridal bouquet.

Succulent Floral Arrangement Recipe

I found some really beautiful flowers to include in this arrangement.

To create the finished bouquet I used:

• 6 ranunculus – One of my favorite flowers.
• 1 stem of queen anne’s lace – Queen Anne’s Lace reminds me off what it would look like is baby’s breath turned into a firework, in flower form. 
• 1 stem of nigella – That’s the more whisky and wild part you see sticking out of the top of the bouquet.
• 3 wired succulents – Found all the succulents at a home improvement store, like I mentioned. But if you have a succulent garden or something similar, you could just as easily snip a few succulent plants straight from your home.

For tips on how I typically put bouquets together, visit my tutorial for creating a big bouquet of flowers you’ll love. 

What was the total cost of these succulent arrangements?

The total cost was $27. The price includes all of the flowers, the succulents, and the wire.

Take this Idea Further

There are so many other things you could use this idea for, now that you know how to wire up succulent plants for bouquets.

• You can create succulent centerpieces for a wedding or other special occasions.
• Celebrate a birthday or holiday by creating one of these arrangements as the perfect gift idea.
• You can skip succulent plants all together and use air plants instead, which would also be really beautiful and unique, imo.

What types of succulents are best for flower arrangements?

There is such a variety of succulents out there and many of them would be great for bouquets / arrangements. 

Here are handful that would be a great fit:

• Echeveria
• Burro’s-tail
• String of pearls
• Haworthia
• Aeonium
• Pachyveria

What flowers look the best in a succulent flower arrangement?

You know those online floral websites that sell gift baskets and floral arrangements? One of them is even a telephone number.

They recommend flowers like pink roses or cream roses, white orchids or pink orchids, etc.

And while I think the pinks and white colors look beautiful with succulent bouquets, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend those exact flowers.

But if you’re looking for excellent gifts, that maybe don’t come with a delivery person, I would highly recommend more eclectic floral choices, similar to what I made here. 

Pink ranunculus, white anemones, billy balls (yellow flower shaped like a ball), peach garden roses, etc – even of these would be a great compliment to succulents in a bouquet or centerpiece. *Of course, they are subject to regional availability of flowers.

Where can I find succulents to use in floral arrangements?

So many places! Succulents are such an easy plant to take care of. 

And because of that, they’re quite popular. Even some grocery stores carry succulent plants these days.

You can find and assortment of succulents at home improvement stores that carry plants, like Lowe’s and Home Depot. 

Additionally, there are some local delivery options, especially if you’re in the Los Angeles area. Vesca Botanicals is one of my fave plant delivery options in the LA area.

There are even succulent delivery options online…you might even be able to order them through some places on Instacart.

Can I use just succulents in a bouquet, instead of adding flowers?

Definitely! In fact, I’ve seen a lot of wedding bouquets that do something similar to this (some might add a little floral greenery, but mostly just succulents). 

Single-variety arrangements are the easiest to make because you don’t have to worry about balancing out where you put each plant type.

Outside of weddings, succulent gifts are always appreciated, imo. Maybe even more so than floral gifts because succulents last so much longer. In fact, when we bought our house in Southern California, our realtor gave us a huge planted succulent arrangement in a terracotta planter. We still have it to the days (it’s been almost 3 years).

Do you have any succulent care tips and tricks?

Succulents require about 6 hours of sun per day, but harsh direct sunlight can cause scorching. So it’s all about finding that balance.

Succulent plants do need to be watered, but not nearly as often as your other plants. *And when the colder months come along, they need even less water (fall and winter are considered a resting period for succulents).

What about care tips for a a combo succulent and floral bouquet?

Obviously, fresh flowers and all live plants require water. But living florals need to be in water at all times. And succulents do not.

So my biggest tip would be to place the bouquet in a vase of water and change it out daily or every other day, to keep flowers fresh and water clean. Because the succulents in the bouquet are wired up, they won’t be touching the water anyway, so it’s not an issue.

Can I use cactus instead of succulents for a beautiful arrangement?

Cacti are similar plants to succulents in some ways. So, they would be a great choice for these bouquets, IF they didn’t have so many spikes and thorns. Ouch. 

BUT there are a handful of cactus plants, that don’t have any of the spikey bits, that would be a fit for something like this. And like succulent plants, they don’t require much water, so they would last a long time in a floral arrangement.

Whether you’re putting together a specialty gift for a friend, creating a wedding centerpiece, making a gift bouquet, or simply delivering a thank you arrangement for a friend, I hope you found this succulent plants floral arrangement tutorial helpful. 

If you’re made it this far, I would like to give you a hug.

I think I’ve answered every succulent related question I can think of, but if any more pop up, be sure to ask your question in the comments section and I’ll be sure to respond when I can. 

Think you’ll give this budget succulent bouquet a try?