Over the past few days I’ve been thinking about a few useful tips that I could share with you to help you create lovely arrangements and home and also to help your flowers last longer.
CONDITIONING
Sounds fancy, but this is how to make your flowers last longer. Flowers love clean water, so make sure your vase or container is clean, add fresh water to it and remove any leaves and foliage from the lower part of your flowers and foliage’s the stem, so it doesn't go in the water. If you have leaves, or petals in the water as they decompose bacteria will grow and this will shorten the life of your flowers.
Before you add your flowers to the water use sharp scissors to cut 2.5-5cm off the bottom of the stem, at a sharp angle this will help the flower take up water and ensure the stems don't sit flat against the bottom of your vase. Every couple of days wash the vase, change the water and trim the stems a couple of centimetre’s more, again at a sharp angle.
TEXTURE
You probably consider texture when choosing flowers without thinking about it. For example the soft delicate texture of a rose is very different to the smooth, dry texture of Eucalyptus which is why the contrasts work well together. An interesting design will include many different textures.
SHAPE
As with texture you will think about the shape of each flower without realising you're doing it. For example Gerbera's and Daisy's are round, Veronica and Stocks are triangular.
An eye-catching arrangement could work because there are many shapes within the design, or conversely the design may contain one or two shapes, but make use of texture and colour to add interest.
COLOUR
is probably the second decision you make when choosing flowers after the type of flower.
In floristry green is a neutral colour, as any colour of flower goes with it. Personally I prefer to use one of two colours in my arrangements and use tint, tone and shade to add the colour interest.
CONTAINER
Both the shape and colour of a container can change the appearance of an arrangement. If a bold coloured container is used this might be the first thing you see, rather than the flowers, or it may help to highlight a specific flower.
The shape of the container can make the arrangement more compact or open, depending on the top of the container. Containers with large openings will allow the flowers to spread out, containers with narrow openings help support the binding point of a bouquet, as can waisted vases or containers.
If you would like to learn more about creating flower arrangements why not book on to one of our workshops, at the original potting shed on the Farncombe Estate near Broadway in the Cotswolds.