Season Flowers

Who doesn't like getting flowers an time of year. Personally I love growing them and arranging them myself! Here are some great activities for flower lovers: Make your own European style flower arrangment...First get some flowers from your bakc yard or a shop or even a wild field. Select the ones you like the best and you hand tie them together - so simple yet elegant much less tradition than the vase arrangements. Tips for recognizing good flowers - most flowers should be bought in a bud stage with a little color showing through it except for daisies and gerbera - they should be fully grown and open. Also try to stick to the seasonal flowers even though they sell flowers on off seasons.
*Tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are widely available in spring between the months of February and May

*Peonies can be bought between April and the beginning of June for the best price

*Sunflowers are native in the US between July and October

*Dahlias are available in early fall *Roses, lilies, iris, gerbera and daisies

*Chrysanthemums are available year round for approximately the same price.

But no matter what the flowers always go up in price during the Valentine’s Day season. Every traditional hand-tied bouquet has one type of focal flower, filler flowers, and greens.

A focal flower is considered single stem flower, with the head around one inch in diameter for example - roses, gerbera, mums (= single stem Chrysanthemums), iris etc.

Filler flowers are considered several smaller heads and buds on one stemfor example - Baby’s Breath, Montecasino Asters, Statice, Limonium, Mini-Carnations, Daisies.

Greens - well greens are greens - no floral element maybe small berry-like seeds such as those found on seeded Eucalyptus and Pepper berries. They are there to support structure on the outside of the bouquet. There are many types, shapes and shades of green.

There are three basic flower-arranging techniques foam arrangements, vase arrangements and hand-tied bouquets.

Let's focus on bouquets. One advantage is it is a lot faster to assemble and start over if you make a mistake. It's quite easy - just wrap your bouquet in a pretty paper or cellophane and give it as a gift

Tools for bouquet making inclue:
Cutters or florist knife
Bindwire Rose
De-thorner to cut the thorns

How to make a European style flower arrangment by Beyond Blossoms

1. Clean the flower stems by stripping all foliage below 7

2. D-thorn the roses.

3.Above the 7” mark, take off broken or brown leaves and flower petals

4. Put each flower stem appr. 45 degrees in front of the previous one, creating a spiral form.

5. Turn the bouquet ¼ turn in your hand everytime you add a new stem

6. The final bouquet should have that round shape by putting each additional flower lower than the previous one.

7.Cut off the ends of the stems.

8. all the flower stems have the same length, so that they can be hydrated and the bouquet stands upright in a vase.

9. Get rid of leaves below the point where you hold the bouquet in your hand

10. 7"8" below the tips of the tallest flower is where you tie the bouquest with a wire tie - wrap it around twice and twist the ends a couple times

11. Cut off loose ends and wires.

Test - if it can stand on it's own without a vase it was a success!!



Send your creative works, feedback and photos of your floral art to Beyond Blossoms