Which artificial flowers are the best?

Using artificial flowers in your floral arrangements is an excellent way to create a long-lasting display. Realistic materials and colors in today’s artificial flowers make for stunning arrangements. Whether you’re planning a large event or looking for elegant home decor, artificial flowers can breathe new life into any space while helping you stay on budget.

Finding the best artificial flowers takes a keen eye for detail and a sense of their real-world counterparts to craft an eye-catching faux flower arrangement.

What to know before you buy artificial flowers

When buying artificial flowers, all the elements of real flowers, like how many and what type, are important to consider. However, to create a standout artificial arrangement, it’s also important to consider what materials were used in making the flowers.

Materials

Most artificial flowers are made of plastic, polyurethane or other manufactured materials, while more traditional artificial flowers may be made from silk, velvet or other textiles. The material determines how realistic the flowers look, how easy they are to clean and their cost.

Number of flowers

The number of flowers you need depends on the size of the vase or vessel you plan on using, how much space the petals need and how full you want your arrangement to look. Before you decide on flowers, choose a vessel so you know how many flowers will fit inside.

Flower type

Common types of artificial flowers include roses, peonies, carnations and hydrangeas, though you can find many others. Depending on the materials, different types of artificial flowers lend themselves to looking more or less realistic. For example, artificial peonies made of silk often appear natural since real peony petals are soft and delicate like silk.

Length of flower stems

Artificial flower stems are generally long enough to fit most vessels or to bend and shape as you please. If you plan to hold them as a bouquet, you may want shorter stems. If you’re going to place the flowers in a vessel, you may need to adjust the length of the stems to fit neatly inside. Many artificial stems are made from wire or plastic, so you can cut them to your desired length.

Additional decor elements

Some artificial flowers come with accent pieces, such as extra greenery, LED twinkle lights or even a matching vessel. Consider how you plan to use your flower arrangement and whether you need additional decorative elements to help bring the display to life.

What to look for in quality artificial flowers

When shopping for artificial flowers, consider the size, shape and color of the real flowers you would display and find their artificial counterparts. Also consider where you’ll place these faux flowers so you know how durable they need to be.

Size and shape

The size and shape of artificial flowers won’t necessarily match perfectly with their natural counterparts. If the real size and shape of your flowers are important to you, search for artificial flowers that are made on a 1:1 scale with the real thing. Otherwise, be mindful of the potential mismatch if your arrangement combines real and faux flowers. Also, keep in mind that you’ll likely need to fluff out your artificial flowers once you bring them home, so they may appear smaller when they arrive before you complete your arrangement.

Color

Today, artificial flowers are available in many realistic colors. Most arrangements come in variety packs with slight variances in color to create a convincing bouquet. Some artificial flowers are even hand-painted to give a more natural appearance. Just like picking fresh flowers, consider what color palette you want and shop accordingly. Be mindful that if the artificial blooms are not UV-treated, they may fade if placed in direct sunlight for long periods.

Durability

Generally speaking, artificial flowers are built to last. After all, they are artificial and meant to hold up during long events and through high-traffic areas, temperature changes and multiple arrangements. However, some materials hold up better than others. Silk or textile flowers are more delicate than plastic or polyurethane ones. Keep in mind that all artificial flowers can get dirty. Regular dusting and spot cleaning will keep your faux flowers looking bright all year round.

How much you can expect to spend on artificial flowers

Small artificial flowers usually run between $5 and $25. Mid-range flowers can cost between $25 and $50, and more expensive options can cost between $50 and $100, depending on the number and size of flowers, vessels or accessories.

Artificial flowers FAQ

What are artificial flowers made from?

A. Originally, artificial flowers were made from hand-crafted silk. Once artificial flowers became more commercially available worldwide, materials such as velvet, gauze and crepe grew in popularity. Now, most artificial flowers are made from commonly manufactured materials like plastic and polyester.

Can you clean artificial flowers?

A. Yes. To keep your flowers looking lively and fresh, dust and clean your artificial flower arrangements regularly with a feather duster or microfiber cloth. If you need to access small crevices, use a fine soft-bristle paintbrush. To clean off dirt on your artificial flowers, try a 2:1 mixture of water and rubbing alcohol to gently dab away the grime. Test a small patch first to make sure the color doesn’t fade.

Can you mix artificial flowers and real flowers?

A. Yes. Combining artificial flowers with real ones in your floral arrangements is an excellent way to liven up the fake flowers and make your display stand out. Most artificial flowers can handle a bit of water, but make sure the stems can be submerged safely without staining or warping.

What are the best artificial flowers to buy?

Fule Large Artificial Peony Silk Flower Bouquets

Two bouquets include 13 stems, six full-bloomed peonies, two buds, a few accent flowers and water grass for custom arranging. The silk construction gives a realistic appearance, and the stems are iron-wrapped in wire for easy shaping or cutting.

Dream of Flowers Galaxy Rose

This unique light-up flower encased in glass lends an air of romance to any room.The polyvinyl chloride Galaxy Rose is enclosed in a glass jar, sitting atop a wooden base, and surrounded by LED lights. The fairy lights impart a warm glow around the flower, creating a magical look. The lights have two settings: on and blinking. A luxury gift box makes it a natural gift for special occasions.

Mandy’s Artificial Red Poppies

These bright, artificial poppies give a high-impact look with little upkeep. They are made from 90% polyurethane and 10% plastic, making the petals easy to clean and durable. Each bundle includes 30 individual flowers. The poppies are manufactured on a 1:1 scale to the real flower and have hand-painted details for a more natural look. They’re available in three color varieties as well as with an optional vase.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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Some questions for the next American president:

If necessary, are you willing to use force to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons or China from subjugating Taiwan — two events that may well take place on your watch? Will you use the threat of an arms embargo to compel Israel or Ukraine to agree to cease-fire deals they do not want? Are you prepared to increase military spending to Cold War levels to contend with great-power competitors and new asymmetric threats, such as from the Houthis?

Above all, do you believe that maintaining our global primacy is worth the price in effort, treasure and sometimes blood?

If the answer to that last question is “no” — an answer that has the virtues of honesty, modesty and frugality — then you can mostly ignore the previous questions. You can also comfort yourself with the fantasy that the world will leave us alone in exchange for us leaving it alone.

The world doesn’t work that way. Unlike, say, New Zealand, we are not a pleasant and remote country under the implicit protection of a benign ally: Nobody will protect us if we do not protect ourselves. We have globe-spanning territorial, maritime and commercial interests that require us to police the global commons against bad actors, from China in the South China Sea to Iran in the Strait of Hormuz to Russia in the cyber domain. We stand for a set of ideas, centered on human rights and personal liberties, that invariably attract the violent attention of despots and fanatics.

We’ve also tried isolationism before, in the 1920s and 1930s. It ended badly.

All these points used to be no-brainers. Not anymore. When JD Vance said in 2022 that “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” he was implicitly suggesting that he was — or was at least close to — rejecting the costs of global primacy. When Kamala Harris said in 2020 that “I unequivocally agree with the goal of reducing the defense budget and redirecting funding to communities in need,” she was, too.

Both these statements were foolish when they were made. Now they’re dangerous. Russia, Iran, North Korea and China have joined hands in a vast Axis of Aggression that finds victims from Kharkiv to Tel Aviv to the Spratly Islands off the Philippines. Beijing has doubled its nuclear arsenal in recent years and may double it again by the end of the decade. Tehran’s nuclear breakout time — the time needed to produce a bomb’s worth of weapons-grade uranium, though not a bomb itself — is “now probably one or two weeks,” according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Moscow seems to have pressed pause on its plans to arm the Houthis with missiles, but the threat of it gives the Kremlin leverage elsewhere in the world.

What all this amounts to is what a Leninist maxim calls probing with bayonets. The next line: “If you find mush, you push.”

Mush was George W. Bush’s feeble response to Russia’s invasion of Georgia, followed by Barack Obama’s equally feeble one to Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014. It was Donald Trump’s threats to withdraw from NATO, his attempt (foiled by his own advisers) to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, his pathetic hopes for a deal with the Taliban. It was President Joe Biden’s heedless execution of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. It was the slow-rolling of critical weapon systems deliveries to Ukraine and the feeble response to attacks by Iranian-backed militias against U.S. troops, which, predictably, resumed this week.

There’s a third turn to the maxim: “If you find steel, you withdraw.”

At his best, Biden provided the steel — and spine — that helped Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion. He did so again by bringing Finland and Sweden into NATO, deterring Hezbollah from invading northern Israel after Oct. 7, deepening military alliances throughout the Pacific and promising to fight for Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

History will remember this side of the Biden legacy well. The question is whether the next president will build on or retreat from it.

There’s a convenient belief that it doesn’t really matter what the candidates say or even think about the role the United States should assume: Considerations of national interest and prestige, the thinking goes, will dictate roughly similar foreign policies under either a Harris or a Trump administration, both of which will maintain the status quo. That’s a delusion.

Signals of weakness or strength that the next administration sends in its first weeks or months in office will shape fundamental decisions by our increasingly united and willful adversaries — as well as by our increasingly skittish allies. The MAGA people who think we should abandon Ukraine for the sake of confronting China should ask themselves how abandoning one ally in the West somehow won’t embolden an adversary in the East. The progressives who say we spend too much on defense might ask how much it might cost to restore peace once it’s been lost.

The invasion of Ukraine and Oct. 7 were supposed to be the alarms that the long nap from history was truly over. We can’t just keep hitting the snooze button.

Bret Stephens writes a column for the New York Times.

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Let’s get something out of the way: The best way to eat a summer tomato is to just eat it, thickly sliced and lightly showered with salt.

That’s what I’m doing with those fat beefsteaks and heirlooms, so juicy that they nearly collapse into a mosaic of seeds and pulp on the cutting board. You can riff on that basic formula — ripe tomatoes plus salt — by adding cucumber, watermelon, peaches or mozzarella for salads, or layering them on toast for something like pan con tomate, or sandwiching them with bacon for a lush BLT with smoky crunch.

But if you’re going to eat tomatoes at just about every meal — very much my intention for the month of August — you should change up the repertoire a bit. I want recipes that put tomatoes to work, leveraging their distinct sweetness and acidic ping.

Here are five tomato dinners that do just that, by grating or dicing them, roasting them, lightly sautéing them or simply cutting them up and drizzling them with a sparky vinaigrette.

1. Gingery Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Gingery meatballs in tomato sauce. Use any kind of meat you like for the meatballs: pork, turkey, chicken, beef or plant-based. Food styled by Samantha Seneviratne. (Julia Gartland/The New York Times)

Most meatballs in tomato sauce rely on canned tomatoes for the kind of heady, garlicky recipe that’s typically spooned over spaghetti. But this recipe is made from briefly cooked fresh tomatoes for something lighter and brighter, seasoned with ginger, cilantro, lime juice and a dusting of cumin. It’s a perfect place to use up those overripe summer tomatoes, and it works well with just-ripe tomatoes, too. Feel free to use any kind of ground meat here: pork, beef, turkey, chicken, lamb or vegan meat. Then, serve it with crusty bread or rice to catch all of the zippy, fragrant sauce.

By Melissa Clark

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons finely grated or minced fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin, more for serving

1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt, more as needed

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 pound ground pork (or turkey, chicken, beef, lamb or vegan meat)

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (or use plain)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, more for serving

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups diced fresh ripe or overripe tomatoes

1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1 lime, halved

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon ginger, the garlic, cumin, salt and coriander. Add pork, panko and cilantro. Using your hands, gently mix everything together, making sure not to overwork the mixture. (Otherwise, the meatballs get tough.) Form into 1 1/4-inch balls.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high, then add the oil and let it heat up until it thins out. Add meatballs in one layer. Cook, turning and shaking the pan, until meatballs are browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Move meatballs to one side of the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon ginger to the empty side of the pan and sauté for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, fish sauce and a pinch of salt to the empty side of the pan. When tomatoes are simmering, cover the pan, lower the heat to medium, and let cook until the meatballs are no longer pink at the center, about 5 to 8 minutes longer.

4. Uncover the pan. Mix the scallions into the sauce. Squeeze lime juice all over everything, then stir together. Taste, and add salt and lime juice as needed. Serve the meatballs sprinkled with more cumin and topped with cilantro.

2. Salmon With Freshly Grated Tomatoes and Butter

Salmon with freshly grated tomatoes and butter. Carolina Gelen’s salmon recipe also turns summer tomatoes into a quickly cooked sauce. Food styled by Cyd Raftus McDowell. (Armando Rafael/The New York Times)

With a minimal list of ingredients and prep, this light, flavorful salmon and tomato dish is an excellent contender for the perfect summer dinner. When tomato season is in full swing, this one-pan recipe makes the most of all those ripe, tender, bursting tomatoes. For fresh tomato flavor, the tomatoes are coarsely grated, yielding a delicate, low-effort sauce that is sweet and tangy, an ideal accompaniment for buttery seared salmon. Simple aromatics like freshly grated garlic, black pepper and thyme sprigs are simmered alongside the fish to round out the flavor. A piece of crusty toast to absorb all those juices completes the meal, along with an optional glass of white wine.

By Carolina Gelen

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3 large heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), halved

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4 skin-on salmon fillets (6 to 8 ounces each)

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 thyme sprigs, plus more for serving

2 garlic cloves, grated

Toast, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Place a box grater in a medium bowl. Place the flat, cut side of each tomato half against the coarse side of the grater and grate the tomatoes in the bowl, stopping when you reach the tomato skin. Discard (or snack on) the tomato skins. You should have 1 3/4 to 2 cups of grated tomatoes.

2. Using paper towels, pat dry the salmon fillets. Season with salt on all sides.

3. In a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Place the salmon fillets skin-side down and sear for 3 minutes, until the skin becomes crispy and easily releases from the pan. Flip the fillets and continue searing for 2 to 3 minutes, until a light crust forms.

4. Decrease heat to low to prevent the butter from burning. Transfer the salmon to a clean plate.

5. Carefully add the thyme sprigs, garlic and 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper to the skillet and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Be careful, the butter will splatter after adding the thyme; you may want to partly cover the skillet with a lid until the splattering stops.

6. Carefully pour the grated tomatoes in the skillet, season with salt and bring the mixture to a simmer. Decrease heat to medium-low and place the fish in the tomato sauce, skin-side down. Loosely cover the skillet with a lid and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the salmon is cooked through. The sauce will reduce slightly and go from a pinkish-red to an orange-red. Serve with toast and fresh thyme.

3. Roasted Shrimp With Okra and Tomatoes

Roasted shrimp with okra and tomatoes. In Kia Damon’s recipe, the okra softens, the tomatoes sweeten and the quickly roasted shrimp bring the dish into a state of summer bliss. Food styled by Greg Lofts. (Bryan Gardner/The New York Times)

In the South, okra and tomatoes are the crown jewels of the summer. Frying is the most common preparation for okra, but roasting also brings the best out of these two favorites; tomatoes become sweeter and okra softens, developing a deeper savoriness brought forward by a simple seasoning of salt and pepper. Shrimp brings the dish to a new level: The smoked paprika and oregano are a perfect foil to the shrimp’s own natural, delicate flavor, and, swirled together with the olive oil and tomato juice in the pan, the result is a meal with the makings of a stew with a fraction of the time and effort. It truly tastes like a warm, summer, Sunday evening. When choosing okra, go for the smaller to medium sized pods. The bigger the okra, the more likely it is to be stringy and tough. Serve with cooked rice or atop angel hair pasta.

By Kia Damon

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 pound (21 to 30 count) peeled and deveined shrimp (tails on)

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika

Salt and black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 pound small to medium okra, trimmed

1 pint cherry tomatoes

Lemon wedges, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees and line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. In a medium bowl, combine the shrimp, oregano, smoked paprika, a few pinches of salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix well and set aside.

2. Add the okra and tomatoes to the pan, season with salt and several cracks of black pepper, then drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over top. Mix well, spread evenly then place on the top rack of the oven. Roast until the okra is softened and the tomatoes are soft and have released their juices, about 15 minutes.

3. Take the pan out of the oven, put the tomatoes and okra in a large bowl, then spread the shrimp evenly on the same pan and toss to coat in the pan juices. Return the pan to the oven and roast until the shrimp are cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Remove the shrimp from the oven, then toss with the okra and tomatoes, along with any pan juices. Taste for salt. Serve on a large platter and finish with a squeeze of lemon.

4. Fresh Tomato, Basil and Prosciutto Pasta

This summertime pasta of lightly sizzled garlic and tomatoes with torn basil is satisfyingly easy and delicious. It’s also a reminder that with really great ingredients, not a lot of cooking is necessary to create a stand-out meal. Melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto and dollops of ricotta add a little richness to contrast with all the freshness, leaving you with a colorful main that doesn’t really need much else, but a sprinkle of crushed red-pepper flakes or a few thin rings of jalapeño or sweet red pepper could be welcome additions.

By Christian Reynoso

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces spaghetti

Salt and pepper

6 garlic cloves

1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes (any variety)

1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves

3 to 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, preferably at room temperature

1/2 cup fresh ricotta, preferably at room temperature

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente, then drain.

2. While the pasta is cooking, thinly slice the garlic and cut the tomatoes into large bite-size pieces (3/4- to 1-inch chunks, wedges or slices, or just halves of cherry tomatoes, if using).

3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium. After 2 minutes, add the garlic and let sizzle for about 1 minute without browning, then add the tomatoes and use tongs to toss in the garlic oil. Season with salt and cook, tossing gently, until tomatoes are warmed through and have started to release their juices but are still intact, about 3 minutes. Turn off heat.

4. Add the pasta to the warm tomatoes, then tear the basil into pieces and toss together with the pasta, tomatoes and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

5. To serve, transfer warm pasta onto plates, tear the prosciutto into pieces and drape them over top. Dollop on the ricotta, season with salt and pepper and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

5. Dumpling Tomato Salad With Chile Crisp Vinaigrette

Dumpling tomato salad with chile crisp vinaigrette. This dish from Hetty Lui McKinnon gets its electricity from chile crisp and rice vinegar and its juiciness from salted fresh tomatoes. Food styled by Simon Andrews. (Christopher Testani/The New York Times)

Harness the crowd-pleasing power of dumplings in this hearty yet light main course salad. The base is simple and summery: Ripe tomatoes are lightly touched with salt, garlic and basil, providing a perfectly fragrant canvas for pan-fried potsticker dumplings. Salting intensifies the tanginess and fruitiness of tomatoes, while also coaxing out some of the juice, which becomes a light sauce for the dumplings. (Salting also works wonders for out-of-season tomatoes, meaning you could eat this salad all year round.) Use your favorite chile crisp as it is the dominant flavor in the dressing and will greatly impact the final dish; all brands of crisp will have different levels of saltiness and spice, so season accordingly.

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the salad:

2 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes (any variety), cut into roughly 1- to 2-inch pieces (at room temperature)

1 garlic clove, grated

1/2 cup basil leaves, torn

Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal brand) and black pepper

1 pound frozen potsticker dumplings (not thawed)

Neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable

1 to 2 tablespoons store-bought crispy fried shallots (optional)

For the chile crisp vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons chile crisp (or chile oil)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce, or more to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the tomatoes on a large serving plate or in a bowl. Add the garlic, half the basil leaves, 1 teaspoon of salt and a big pinch of black pepper. Toss to combine and set aside.

2. To make the vinaigrette, combine the chile crisp, rice vinegar and soy sauce and whisk to combine. Taste and if it needs more saltiness, add ½ teaspoon more soy sauce.

3. Heat a large (12-inch) nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium high for 1 to 2 minutes until very hot. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil and, working in batches, add the dumplings, flat-side down, and cook until the bottoms of the dumplings are lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately add about ¼ cup of water to the pan, just enough to cover the base of the dumplings, then cover and cook until the water has evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. (If your dumplings contain meat, cook for an extra 1 to 2 minutes, or according to packet instructions). Transfer the cooked dumplings to a plate and continue cooking the remaining dumplings. (If you prefer to steam the dumplings, see Tip.)

4. To serve, place the warm dumplings over the tomato salad and drizzle with the chile crisp vinaigrette. Toss very gently. Top with the crispy fried shallots (if using) and the remaining basil leaves. Serve either while the dumplings are still warm or at room temperature.

Tips: To steam, arrange the dumplings in a steaming basket lined with baking paper or cabbage leaves, place over a pan of boiling water and steam for 10 to 15 minutes.

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