Colorful, heart-shaped, sure hits for valentines

For a modern twist on Valentine's Day, give your sweetheart a bouquet of the naturally heart-shaped flower called anthurium.

Anthuriums grow in tropical climates and come in a variety of colors ranging from white and pale cream to lime and deep chocolate. The anthurium's graceful narrow stem and large, glossy head are perfect for many simple, elegant presentations. The flower can be left long for displaying in a slender vase or cut short so just a single heart-shaped head is floating in a shallow bowl.

Tips

I used a branch of ornamental grass to tie the three red anthuriums together for the arrangement in the short clear vase.

For a short, opaque flat vase, use a florist frog to secure the stems in the arrangement.

Anthuriums have a vase life of about two weeks and mix well with other tropical flowers, leaves and ornamental grasses to make lively, bold bouquets.

Before purchasing the flowers, check for spots, cuts in the petals and curling around the edges, which can be signs of age.

Cost

You can find anthuriums year-round at grocery stores, florist shops and through online flower companies. The flowers shown here were purchased at Metropolitan Market in Seattle.

The anthuriums were $4.99 for each stem. Tropical leaf stems were $4.99 for two, and the ornamental grass was $1.99 per bunch.

Budget Bouquets is an occasional feature in digs.