At flea markets, I always look for old flower frogs—glass ones to hold fat tulip stems in place or wire cages for arranging low, flat centerpieces. I hardly ever find the spiky, metal-pronged ones that are so useful for spearing spindly stems or woody twigs, so it was with great excitement that I recently discovered some at Sprout Home:
Above: Four sizes of Steel Metal Frogs, at prices ranging from $5.50 to $15 apiece from Sprout Home, are "perfect for the bottom of a vase. Stick stems into the pins to rigidly fix them in place."
Above: Reusable metal, pronged flower frogs are such a better solution than using that yucky green florists' foam (what is that stuff made of, anyway?), that I'm kind of shocked that they're not sold widely—in supermarkets, in the drive-thru pickup land at the drugstore, and at 24-hour convenience stores.
Above: Sprout Home's frogs, an example of new products that are actually as good as the practical, old-fashioned versions they emulate, come in four sizes (and two shapes) to fit the bottom of almost any vase.
For more tips about floral arrangements, see Flower Arranging 101, or Lessons in Humility.
N.B.: This is an updated version of a post that was originally published on August 27, 2012.