Using Fake Flowers Outside

Friends, I’m about to blow your mind. As much as I positively love gardening in my containers every year, there are a few flower pots that I’ve had it with.

Some of my container planters just hate whatever I put in there! Maybe it’s the lack of water that I can get them, or the full sun or the black planters but flowers continually shrivel and die.

I’m tired of redoing these planters all summer long! I am admitting to cheating and planting fake outdoor flowers in certain places.

Yes, artificial flowers for outdoors is my new jam. No, I don’t use fade-resistant flowers everywhere (I truly do love my garden and real flowers) but using UV silk flowers in certain places is making my life easier.

I challenge you to notice they are even outdoor silk flowers!

Use sparingly and carefully. Just like mixing inexpensive home decor with higher end pieces, or an expensive sweater with super cheap shoes, the whole look needs to blend seamlessly.

So no, I don’t use fake flowers for outside exclusively. Pick and choose where to place them so nobody will be able to tell the difference between real and fake!

Mix the outdoor fake flowers in a very organic style. This is not the time for picture perfect outdoor artificial slower arrangements.

You want the plants to look natural. Mix varieties and intertwine the branches so they look like they’ve grown into each other Also, allow them to trail naturally.

These outdoor silk flowers are an easy diy as long as you make it look like the earth grew them and abandon perfection!

I started with the soil that was in there from last year. In this case, roots from the previous year work in your favor. Old soil is thick and will grip the UV plants better so they stay put.

I stuck in each plastic plant in the symmetrical way I would have planted real flowers using artificial outdoor flower pots. However, I was careful to put them in at varying heights.

This would help create the illusion that certain plants had grown up, and some wider just like real ones would have. Then I bended the branches in a variety of directions.

Lastly, I took my hands and tousled each bunch to mess them up. Just like you would do to your hair if you were trying to fluff it!

I get a little chuckle just thinking about how real these outdoor fake flowers look, it’s almost like cheating the system.

There are special made fake flowers for outside. They are fade resistant.

If you can, buy UV resistant to help them look better throughout the season. The boxwood and filler plants are plastic, which allow them to better handle Mother Nature.

Here is a great UV boxwood similar to I use in my large planter.

All of these UV flowers get excellent reviews. The boxwood isn’t UV but tucked under a porch it will do so well.

I have several that are holding up beautifully! I also love both the indoor artificial flowers and the artificial flowers for outdoors sold by Afloral!

• 18″ boxwood bush – 3 for each spa container.
• Water resistant silk azalea – at least 3 for a small container. More for larger size pots.
• Trailing petunias.
• Artificial Geranium bushes in white – I used about 7 in my balcony container.
• Plastic mini Boxwood pick – I adore these. I used 3 in each pot by the spa but wish I had bought more for the other containers.
• Plastic rosemary greenery. A great filler. Get a few for each pot.
• UV Protected Plastic Spathiphyllum Plant in Green – 33″, I used these tall plants in the fireplace containers.
• Artificial Ivy Leaf Hanging Bush in Variegated Green – 22″ long. These are much shorter than I thought they would be so plan accordingly.

I swear by and will always purchase faux flowers from Afloral. I have bought and abused their products for years and absolutely love them. What’s important to me in my arrangements is finding something that looks natural, even though they’re not.

What I love about the Afloral plants I’ve gotten is the level of detail in both the look and texture. They truly look genuine making them the best outdoor artificial flowers.

Another great thing about Afloral is they have a wide selection of UV protection flowers. Remember we are putting these outside so having that UV built in is so important. We’ve all seen those outdoor banners or the outside flags that, over time, look completely washed out. That UV protection prevents that process keeping your fake potted plants looking fresh and new.

Now you’ll notice in my post I’ve added some UV flowers from Amazon. I think that’s always a great option as well. Amazon may not carry as high a quality but sometimes you need your stuff and you need it now.

Using large outdoor artificial flowers or plants can be a great way to fill unwanted empty space and create a scene in a specific place.

When you’re placing these keep in mind what you want the overall space to look like. When I decorate anything I like to decide where I want my focal point to be and if we’re looking at using larger plants let’s face it, they are going to catch the eye.

Decide how you want these plants to compliment the scene whether you’re setting up on your patio, deck, porch or front entrance.

We obviously aren’t going to plant these since they’re fake so using outdoor artificial flower arrangements in pots is the best option.

When you are choosing what kind of pot don’t forget to look at the proportions. Are you using a tall and skinny plant? Maybe try a larger pot so it better compliments the thinner plant and vice versa.

You’re aiming for the most realistic outdoor artificial flowers and there’s a few things that go into achieving that.

First as I mentioned before, buy from the right place. It’s tempting to go after what’s cheap but running to Hobby Lobby to get the 50% off flowers may not do it. For start are they UV treated and second do they even look like the real thing?

When trying to get that real floral look you also have to consider what does the actual flower look like. If you’re not familiar with the arrangement your working with look it up. Check out what the petal colors are, what are the leaf designs. How does your faux compare with the genuine?

If you look at faux flowers how do you usually buy them? In a bundle! Don’t be afraid to cut that bundle up. Real flowers aren’t bunched up that close together. There are a few things you can do to you that loose leaning look real flowers give.

You can try stuffing some grocery bags in between them before placing your soil, or you can cut them up and manually separate the stems before adding soil.

One more thing to consider for realistic outdoor artificial flowers are the finish. What I mean by that is a real flower has imperfections, bugs have bitten them, they lean, they have burn defects. Don’t trash up your fakies but maybe give them a little loving to break up the perfect finish they have.