• Base vases serve to display sprigs of flowers, not full bouquets.Little blue vase with pink roses image by Ivonne Wierink from Fotolia.com
  
  Bud vases come in a wide array of heights, sizes, styles and sources. Typically, the bud vase has a narrow opening to support only one or a small number of flower stems. The size of the vase determines which flowers are best displayed in them. Tall flowers with long stems need a bud vase that is tall and slender, while short, dainty flowers require a tiny vase to hold and display them appropriately. Bud vases can be expensive longneck crystal pieces or something as rustic as a beer bottle, baby food jar or shot glass.
  
  

Longneck Bud Vases

• Tall, slender-neck bud vases are best suited to display flowers with naturally long stems or upright flowering clusters. The main concern when selecting a bloom for a tall bud vase is stability. You don't want a large, heavy flower or flimsy stem in a longneck vase as it may readily topple. Great flowers for a tall bud vase include roses, orchid sprays--especially oncidium, dendrobium and phalaenopsis--gladiolas, daises, daylilies, cosmos, irises, zinnias, snapdragons and larkspurs. Tulips and gerber daisies work well as long as their stems don't soften or elongate.
  
  

Short, Miniature Bud Vases

• Too often the short, dainty flowering plants of the woodlands or early spring garden are not used in flower arrangements because they are diminutive or have weak stems. A short bud vase, such as one the size of a baby food jar can hold these delicate blooms. While a singular flower may look grand in a longneck bud vase, a cluster of small flowers has the most impact in a miniature bud vase. Prime candidates for filling it include violets, snowdrops, sweet alyssum, pansies, begonias, creeping phlox and miniature zinnias.
  
  

Don't Forget Foliage

• Accompany a flower in a bud vase by a sprig of foliage for added visual weight and interest. While you might think a bud vase filled with flowers is the only way to decorate, don't rule out using only attractive sprigs of plants with attractive leaves. The foliage could be particularly colorful--mimicking flowers--or architecturally intriguing. Ferns are a great specimen for a bud vase. Don't limit yourself, though, as David Pippin from Learn2Grow suggests, you can even create a collection of bud vases that highlight a different plant from your garden. Sprigs of herbs like rosemary or thyme can grace an appropriately sized bud vase, or use even clippings of evergreens and pussy willows for a wintery display.