Begin your arrangement with an assortment of blooms, including several key pieces and plenty of filler blooms and greenery. Dolan recommends including floating accessories as they add both softness and texture to the piece.
Moss suggests selecting a vessel that matches both the height and look of your floral design. A tall, skinny vase could create an uninviting arrangement while deep containers could make your flowers top-heavy.
Let’s find out how to make a flower arrangement!
Determine the Purpose of the Arrangement
Flowers add beauty and fragrance to any room, and learning to arrange them yourself is an invaluable life skill that children should master. However, before heading out to a farmers’ market, florist or supermarket to arrange your arrangement yourself, make sure you have certain essentials handy – from clean containers or vase to scissors that cut thick stems; gardening shears or pruning scissors can also come in handy if thick stems arise; additionally you will require filler blooms as well as greenery as filler material for filling gaps between features – ensure everything runs smoothly when creating beautiful arrangements!
Step two of creating your flower arrangement involves determining its purpose: whether it should be an eye-catching centerpiece, or should it take on more subdued tones? Additionally, decide between symmetrical or asymmetrical designs: formal designs typically utilize equal dimensions on both sides while casual styles employ uneven sides more often for informal looks.
Once you’ve established the purpose and style of your arrangement, select some standout flowers to act as its focal points. They should have relatively firm and large stems with broad or decorative blooms (such as ranunculus, lisianthus, tulips, dahlias peonies or garden roses).
Filler flowers will add depth and texture to any arrangement, such as baby’s breath, yarrow, and sedum. Floaters – delicate blooms growing in clusters on thin stems – add an airy finish by providing delicate detailing at the end.
Focus on the Flowers
No matter whether they come from your garden or supermarket, flowers need to last as long as possible. The key to doing this successfully is removing leaves from their stems as these soak up moisture faster and cause your flowers to wilt more rapidly. Next, cut each bloom about one-inch away from its base with sharp floral or garden shears – this step not only looks more pleasing visually but allows more water in, making your bouquets resilient for longer. Dolan believes this step is also crucial as it allows stems to absorb more water, making your blooms more resilient over time.
Next, choose your flowers carefully. Look for varieties in terms of colors, sizes, shapes and dimensions so your arrangement has texture, movement and balance. Consider also what size and shape of container would work best; round vessels allow your flowers to flourish fully while square or rectangular vessels create compact arrangements with more symmetrical design elements.
When ready to begin arranging, place the flowers in a container that is either filled with wet floral foam or damp floral tape to keep stems in place. Next, add greenery as an anchoring feature of your arrangement – choose taller greens for height, long or bushy varieties for bulk, or both for structure.
Once the greenery has been added, start adding your larger or more striking flowers – these should serve as the focus of your design and should be placed at its center – while filling in with smaller yet subdued varieties to complement and create balance with them.
Add Greenery
Greenery can bring color, texture, and shape into any arrangement. From stems of plants in your own yard or from florists’, adding greenery can give any display an instant lift – from lemon leaf stems (bright and long-lasting) to honey bracelet stems with soft movement or leather fern leaves for boldness – even those gathered from nearby shrubs or bushes as long as they have sturdy long stems will do!
Once your larger blooms are in place, begin layering smaller flowers and greenery around them to balance out. Pay attention to negative space; too tight of packing will result in an overdone arrangement that doesn’t appear cohesive or intentional.
Add flowers with gestural qualities or delicate stems that will add movement and life to the arrangement, says Sammy. For both aesthetic and practical reasons, such flowers should go into their vase as latecomers so as not to get crushed during transport or possibly perish without support from surrounding greenery.
Before heading out to a grocery store, farmer’s market or florist, think carefully about which color palette best meets your needs and home. Starclaire House of Flowers recommends opting for two high-contrast complementary hues such as gold and purple for a bold and dynamic arrangement; you could also try an analogous scheme by selecting three side-by-side hues on an artist’s color wheel; for instance vibrant reds and oranges might work nicely as well.
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Add Filler Flowers
Add filler flowers and greenery to cover a round bouquet by covering its Styrofoam ball. Filler flowers should consist of secondary blooms or textures that complement or contrast with your focal flowers, such as smaller secondary blooms in different hues; fillers provide an effective way to build up arrangements without overshadowing focal flowers.
Once your filler flowers have been added, move on to larger blooms. Position these in the center of your arrangement to cover any visible styrofoam balls, surrounding them with smaller ones or greenery before using longer stemmed blooms around its perimeter to add volume and fill out its shape. Remember to step back from it periodically and ensure its overall form is pleasing!
Before selecting your flowers, it’s advisable to decide on a color scheme beforehand. Doing this will ensure that all of the flowers you buy compliment one another perfectly; monochromatic schemes incorporating various shades of one hue can be particularly striking.
Once you have your flowers in hand, use a clean and spacious work area. Cut their stems at an 45-degree angle using floral shears or sharp scissors so that the flowers can absorb water more easily and remain fresher for longer. After you’ve finished arranging them, store them in a vase with enough water and flower food; place in a cool location away from any heat vents or direct sunlight; change out water daily as necessary and remove any flowers which have started wilting daily.
Add a Vase
Start by choosing a vase of appropriate size and shape for your blooms, before selecting an assortment of feature flowers, filler blooms and greenery to fill three-quarters of its capacity. Then add water until three-quarters full.
Before adding any flower stems, create a base by layering various greenery at the bottom of your vessel – from eucalyptus needles to ivy leaves or even fern fronds – in a crisscross pattern to create an eye-catching display. This will help keep flowers in their place while giving a natural appearance.
Add several stems of focal flowers – these will be the showy blossoms like roses or peonies that people will first notice when entering a room.
These flowers should be the boldest and largest in your bouquet, although they don’t necessarily need to be your personal favorites. Once the focal flowers have been added, fill any remaining gaps with smaller, subtler blooms for additional color and texture. Floral designer Gofton notes: “the key is finding secondary blooms with different shapes than your focal flowers – these secondary flowers also help add depth and balance!”
Once your arrangement is complete, give it one last spin to check for holes or gaps and fill them in with the best available material–whether that be small blossoms, leaves from branches, or stems of eucalyptus. When satisfied, set down your vase and admire your masterpiece (just be sure to top up its water regularly and change it daily to prolong its life!). Remember if using a clear vase that it must be treated like an artwork by keeping it out of direct sunlight!
