I was recently invited to attend a flower arranging workshop by the lovely folk at Bloomon where I had the chance to learn how to arrange the perfect bouquet as well as get some inside floral secrets’ everything from how to help your blooms stay fresh for longer to adding dill in your flower arrangements. Oh, and we learnt that flowers have emotions. (they do, apparently!). Read on to find out what else we learnt.Hang on, who are Bloomon?
Bloomon are a Dutch company who, in contrast to traditional florists, cut out the middlemen and deal directly with the growers with the aim of delivering fresh hand-tied seasonal bouquets from field to customers within 48 hours. Their bouquets are composed by Anton van Duijn who is well known in the Netherlands for his modern style bouquets and handpicks the best of the seasonal bloom from their growers to create different ‘flower stories’. The most striking thing I find about their bouquets are how ‘spacious’ they are with very little greenery – this gives them a very stylish, Scandinavian look.
Here’s 5 tips I learnt from the workshop:
- Water is single handedly the most important aspect of flower arranging.
Contrary to what you might think, you don’t need much – just make sure the bottom few inches of the stems are covered with water. That said, you might need some more if you are working with particularly thirsty flowers such as hydrangeas. Always change the water every 2 days and add a drop of bleach when you do. Once you’re done with your flowers, wash the vase out with another drop of bleach. A clean vase and water is paramount to healthy, happy flowers.
2. Always cut the ends of the stems of your flowers on an angle.
This gives them more surface area to absorb that all important water. In addition, every time you change the water, cut the ends of the flowers again.
3. The positioning of your flowers is very important.
Don’t put them in direct sunlight or in a draught. They can be a sensitive lot, these flowers, especially roses or peonies which will open immediately if placed in too much sunlight. Also be sure to keep flowers away from fruit which gives off ethylene gas which also speeds up the opening of your flowers.
4. When arranging your flowers, think of building a tipi or a tripod.
In other words, place the stems at opposite sides of the vase and slant them diagonally across the vase and build up gradually.
5. Strip off all the foliage so there is no greenery beneath the vase line.
I absolutely love the crisp effect this gives the arrangement, forcing you to focus on the flower. It also avoids soggy foliage in the vase and helps keep the water clean at the bottom. Put the foliage in a separate small vase to avoid any waste.
Got any awesome flower arranging or maintaining tips to add?
Emma xxx
P.S Bad Plant Parenting and A Zero Plans Plant Day