Working with little flowers
Traditionally, it’s considered a good idea to clump smaller blooms together. Tiny flowers are easier to hold and manipulate as a bunch, anway, and if they’re kept together they have a real presence in the arrangement and won’t disappear behind other larger, more in-you-face flowers in the arrangement. You can cluster little flowers loosely or tie them together with wire or ribbon (depending if you want the ties to be invisible or add to the arrangement).
Growing flowers face the sun… but arranged flowers face where they like!
If you’ve got nice big open flowers (huge daisies, roses, gerbera, etc.) you don’t want them all facing forwards. That’s dull, you’d have to stay in one position and never move to enjoy them! Think what your flower arrangement looks from all angles in the room, and move the flowers around a bit so a flower is facing you wherever you are in the room.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…
…but it’s worth bearing in mind that boiled cabbage by any other name would smell as rank. If you buy fresh flowers, do give them a good sniff to make sure you actually like the smell. Some flowers genuinely don’t smell nice, even though they look fantastic, and once you’ve got that flower in a small room it can really cause a stink. Some flowers like lilies or gardenies or lilacs have very strong, though pleasant smells. You’ll probably be overjoyed to have your room smell of fresh flowers – but pungency is still something to consider.
Quick tips for looking after your flowers
- Always cut your stems with scissors. A ragged edge inhibits water and food intake and your flowers will fade more quickly.
- Flowers last longer in cooler locations. If your flowers are sitting in direct sunlight, change their water every day for colder water – you can even chuck in an ice cube every few days to be certain! Do this and your flowers will love you.
- Keep an eye on cloudy water – it’s a sign of bacteria spreading, a common thing that you shouldn’t worry about because it can be sorted with a change of water.
Flowers for japanophiles
If you want to take flower-arranging a step further, google for the possibilities of ikebana and sogetsu.
Quick tips for using flower arrangement aids
Artplants do a funny, cheap little plastic web that you stick into a vase that is meant to help with flower arranging. If you’re not much good with wire and want a controlled display, this may be a nice option for you.
Republished with permission of MookyChick.co.uk.
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