Your supermarket stocks fresh-cut flowers that cost a fraction of what the florist charges, but the bouquets lack grace and style. If you take apart those banal bunches of blooms, however, and remember a few quick lessons, you'll be able to transform the most common supermarket flowers into charming centerpieces.

Divide and conquer.

This mixed bouquet — carnations, chrysanthemums, Oriental lilies, roses, golden solidagos, and a few stems of greenery — is typical of those sold in supermarkets. It's a confused mishmash of colors, textures, and sizes.

View the five stunning centerpieces Real Simple created from these flowers on the following slides.