Stems of delphinium and larkspur in blue-violet tones form an arrangement that's at once subtle and opulent.

Kevin Sharkey chose pansies that appear to bloom out of baskets to complement the plates on an Easter table.

This arrangement features purple tulips, lisianthus, waxflowers, and ranunculus in similar shades. Four individual arrangements are nestled in Champagne flutes, a great unique vessel for flowers.

Appetizer bowls are filled with sheaves of muscari, then placed the bowls on a tray filled with candy Easter eggs in this arrangement by Kevin Sharkey.

A single stem can be just as dramatic as a full bouquet. Here, a narrow-necked vessel holds a delphinium stem, and the violet-tinged glass echoes the petals' color.

Teeming with an assortment of brightly hued blooms, this lush and festive arrangement makes an ideal centerpiece for a Mexican-style fiesta for Cinco de Mayo. These dramatic, almost explosive colors are sure to make your guests feel as if they're dining on the beaches of Cancun or at the Mazatlan carnival.

Late January and February is the time of year when the arrival of spring flowers such as purple hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips can be seen at flower shops, markets, and grocery stores. Pair these spring blooms with unusual leaves to make beautiful one-of-a-kind arrangements for your home.

This lilac arrangement has height and visual drama with the help of a serving bowl from the kitchen or china cabinet.

Create an arrangement of lush hosta leaves and lavender hydrangeas, fitted into a tree trunk-inspired vase.

Mingle dainty Spanish bluebells with fluffy chive blossoms for textured arrangements.

Here, brilliant violet Muscari latifolium and tight blooms of Ranunculus get a boost in a lush, dense display.

Hollowed-out eggshells make naturally beautiful vases for tiny flower arrangements. Break an egg at the top of its shell, drain the contents, and carefully rinse out the inside. Next, fill the empty shell with room-temperature water and place it in an eggcup for stability. Finally, insert small cuttings of your favorite blossoms (we used lilacs, lily of the valley, and violas). Individually or grouped together in a centerpiece, these tiny arrangements make a wonderful addition to the place settings at your table.

The stems of these cool-blue delphiniums were cut at various lengths to complement the container's curvy shape; the shortest stalks, inserted last, extend only a few inches into the water.

This low centerpiece features green hydrangeas, lavender dusty miller, sea thistle, roses, echinops, astrantia, mountain laurel, clematis, lady's mantle, and blueberries.

Martha has a penchant for clear-glass containers such as this one, which shows off a wonderful mix of purple and white tulips, white bleeding hearts, and the wavy leaves of bird’s-nest fern.

A yellowware kitchen bowl of purple and orange late-summer dahlias would certainly be lovely enough on its own, but adding a contrasting element -- here, wispy asparagus fronds -- make the hot colors and spiky forms even more striking.

Try making an arrangement with different flowers in similar shades. Here, hydrangeas and clematis in purple tones look unified yet diverse. The aqua-colored McCoy bowl peeking out is a bright surprise.

Actually an assemblage of several smaller and more manageable arrangements, the setup offers an easy way to tame a fresh-from-the-garden mix of white roses, green hydrangeas, and purple delphiniums, lady's mantle, scented geraniums, and potato vine. A pitcher in the center gives height, while kitchen crocks (sugar bowls, eggcups) allow the inclusion of short-stemmed beauties.

Purple, white, and green hydrangeas take on a stately elegance when grouped together in a tall vase.

Delphinium and hydrangeas take a humble watering can and give it a new life.

Like a tapestry, this bouquet is a celebration of rich hues and textures. Round violet 'Autumn Joy' and fuzzy fuchsia Celosia provide fullness, while snowberries and blue 'Indigo Spires' function as accents.

Silver echinops (also known as globe thistle) and spiky, steel-blue eryngium (or sea holly) mingle with feathery white flowering astilbe. All can be found in farmers' markets and are easy to grow.

Cut stems at an angle, and anchor them in a vase using a flower frog. Finish with astilbe foliage and sparklerlike Queen Anne's lace (if planting your own, skip Daucus carota, an invasive weed; instead, try its better-behaved cousin Ammi majus) to set off those big, booming blossoms.

A fine French footed porcelain bowl overflows with with clematis, ageratum, bachelor's buttons, sweet peas, and leaves of eryngium and heuchera, making a varied and beautiful display of mauve and purple.

Few of us think to use clematis as cut flowers, but they are excellent as such. Mixed with hosta leaves, irises, and love-in-a-mist seed heads, the flowers are superb.

Lilac's subtle color variations are perfect for creating painterly, layered arrangements.

Gather blooms in two or more hues and group them by color gradation in a heavy vase. Retain some of the leaves on the shortest stems -- they'll form a bottom border of green. Display the composition in a foyer or another public space, where its heady scent and explosive beauty will dazzle guests.

"I love Japanese baskets, and the rich mahogany-reddish shade of this old container looks fabulous with a dusky arrangement of purple hazel leaves, sprays of broom corn, reddish ornamental grass, blackish dahlias, and purple artichokes," says Martha about this fall arrangement.