Let farmers’ market put blooms on your table

Some people fantasize about planting cutting gardens and selling their flowers at a roadside stand.

The rest of us are happy buying bouquets at farmers’ markets from vendors who already have done all the hard work.

If you’re lucky, you might find a pre-arranged bouquet for sale you already like. If you can only find flowers sold separately, though, or if you simply prefer to put your own arrangements together, here are some tips for creating a casual, mid-summer, farm-inspired bouquet.

•Don’t think too hard about whether the flowers you choose complement each other. Focus instead on selecting vibrant colors in a variety of shapes and sizes. For example, pair full-figured hydrangea with slender bachelor’s buttons. Doing so mimics the random way flowers grow in nature or on the farm.

•Choose a container that isn’t too fussy or formal. Consider using a vessel with a summertime theme such as a vintage beach pail or a water pitcher.

•Forgo the filler. Jam-pack your arrangement with bright blooms, not greenery. The arrangement pictured here contains zinnias, Marguerite daisies, dahlias, spirea, bachelor’s buttons and yarrow.

Besides being beautiful, flowers from local sources sometimes are grown without the use of pesticides or herbicides — something that can’t be said about most flowers sold in the United States. Because they’re grown here, local flowers also put less strain on the environment in terms of the emissions created transporting them from grower to consumer.

Once your arrangement is complete, set it on an outdoor dining table during dinner, bring it to a host next time you are a houseguest or place it anywhere that could use a summery touch.