Ask the expert
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
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What do I need to know about arranging flowers ?
The first step is to gather your flowers and place them in buckets filled with tepid water, says London designer Tricia Guild in the March / April issue of Southern Accents (www. southernaccents. com ). Stems of store-bought fl owers should be recut (just the bottom inch or two ) at an angle so they don’t sit flat at the bottom of the bucket and have more of their centers exposed for water uptake. Remove the lower leaves from the stems. No leaves should remain below the waterline while being conditioned or within the final arrangement because they will soon decay, which shortens the life of all the flowers in the vase. Stripping the leaves also lessens the demands and stress on newly cut flowers.
Next, place contrasting shapes and shades next to one another, suggests Guild, author of Flower Sense (Rizzoli New York, $ 40 ). Keep any stray blossoms or buds that fall as you work; they can be charming in very small-scale arrangements. It’s a source of great satisfaction that so little is wasted and anything unusable goes straight onto a compost pile.
Take time to look at individual blooms and feel how they might be used to best advantage. Tall stems can look great, but there is nothing to stop you from cutting some of them short — sometimes a flower can be seen in a whole new light by being displayed in an unexpected way. Who says all the stems in a vase should be the same height ? Why not leave some tall, while others can peep over the rim like a floral ruff ? In fact, who says flowers need stems at all ? Some of the most original arrangements use the heads of flowers snipped off at the top of the stem and floated on water or threaded into garlands on lengths of thread or light fishing line.
Thinking laterally is particularly useful when going through an arrangement that is starting to fade. There will be plenty of good blooms that can be given new life in a different arrangement. It is also a way of redeeming bouquets sent as presents in which too many types of flowers in too many colors have been crammed together with little thought or artistry. Separate the different types of flowers, perhaps pairing them with others from your own garden. It’s hard to think of any flower that isn’t beautiful when used in the right way.
Foliage is another area where too much tradition holds sway. Flowers don’t have to be teamed with their own natural leaves. Choosing containers is part of the fun of arranging flowers, Guild says. Along with a huge collection of old and new vases, she uses pretty jelly jars, bottles, drinking glasses, Moroccan tea glasses, and old cups and saucers. Cast out the convention that tall stems go in tall vases — experiment with your own ideas and let the flower inspire you.
It’s important to ensure that containers are absolutely clean before you start — even the smallest amount of bacteria will proliferate. And once you have arranged your flowers, check the water levels every day, especially in hot weather; flowers can guzzle water quickly and will wilt if levels get too low. Change the water at least every other day, checking for spent flowers and leaves as you do so. Have an eye always on what could be reused. When it’s time to get rid of your flowers, don’t throw roses away. The petals can be strewn on lawns or on the surface of ponds or dried to make potpourri.