Just because you’re a dude doesn’t mean you can’t have flowers in your house. Or maybe you’re a woman who’s sick of roses and peonies and wants an arrangement both genders of her guests can appreciate. We challenged Lea Ann Wells, the floral designer at arty Williamsburg garden store Sprout Home, to create a one-of-a-kind arrangement that fits our ultra-picky bill. After a day at the flower markets, she came back with her arms full of fig branches, artichokes, croton leaves, magnolia branches, crocosmia, lucadendrums, acorn branch, iresine, and agapanthus -- all of which went into this darkly gorgeous, lush arrangement ($150, including the smoke trunk vase). How did she choose each element? “Flowers most often are feminine, with soft scents and fluttery petals,” says Wells, “but certain ones read more masculine in shape, color, and size.”

These include the tulip (particularly queen of the night varieties, which are dark in color), calla lilies (they have a strong graphic shape ideal for a man that likes contemporary, clean lines), and bearded irises (unusual and beautiful). Not to mention lady slipper orchids, anthuriums, croton leaf, and bamboo -- all of which are tropical and ... phallic. Floral arrangements for guys can turn the whole concept on its head, since the less-fair-sex doesn’t even need that typically key ingredient: flowers. Instead, try a bouquet that’s straight-up woodsy and green. “Varying textures of leafs and shades of greens complemented with acorn branches in an architectural form is less literal,” says Wells, “and more of an outdoorsman masculine approach.”

So the next time you’re going to a guy’s house for a nice dinner party, think outside the box when it comes to your gift for the host. Instead of whipping up dessert or buying a bottle of wine, pick up a slick bouquet from a florist that offers unusual plants, or try your hand at your own original design.