Flower Arranging 101
No compensation has been received for store brand names mentioned in this post. All pictures/images property of debbiethisandthat.com
I love flowers and enjoy having them in and around my home. There is nothing more beautiful than an artfully arranged vase or container of lovely blooms. I am a fully self-taught flower arranger and have struggled over the years with finding ways to be artistic in my flower arrangements as well as finding ways to keep the blooms looking fresh longer. In today's post, I will share some of the ideas I put to use recently to keep store bought blooms fresher and artfully arranged longer.
The flowers we are looking at today began as a tall arrangement in the vase you see in this image. To let you know how long lasting arrangements can be, these flowers were brought home to me by Mr.thisandthat on December 20th as a "Happy Last Day at Work" gift. He purchased these lovely blooms at Sam's Club which always has a pretty good assortment of flowers at great prices. It was a huge bouquet of a mix of unopened Lilies, mums, roses, babies breath, carnations and greenery. Absolutely lovely and I basically "artfully arranged" them by plunking them in a large vase and making sure to add the little "packet" that comes with most flowers sold in stores. I did cut the ends of the stems to help with absorption of water and to fit the vase better.
Here is a close-up of the original bouquet. I'm not sure what you call the light pink blooms with the yellow striped center. Anyone know?
Something I did with these flowers, that is a new "trick" for me, was to change out the water every day. I was always hesitant to do this as I believed that the "little packet" would be lost and the flowers might die quicker. I found, however, that changing out the water seemed to help keep the flowers fresher longer. Duh! Why had I not tried this with other arrangements? I also would hold the tips of the stems under running water and "rinse" them off before putting them back in the vase. This helped with that "smell" that flowers in vases can sometimes get after the stems begin to rot in the water. It helped immensely! No bad smells.
So from December 20th until after New Year's my tall vase of flowers did well. I would occasionally remove "spent" flowers that died, but overall the arrangement stayed intact. By January 5th, however, lots of blooms were looking dead and yet there were still many fresh looking flowers and the beautiful Lilies had opened. So, I decided to create the smaller arrangement that you see above from the leftover flowers.
I simply chose the still fresh blooms, cut them way down to size to fit the short, square red vase I chose and, for good measure, added in the pine cones that had been in the beautiful Christmas greenery arrangement that my oldest sister had sent for my birthday. I thought the short red vase complimented the red tipped carnations and the pine cones added a touch of "winter" to the arrangement. And that is what I was going for here...a winter arrangement look rather than a Christmas arrangement look.
And that, my friends, is how I have kept my beautiful flower arrangement going from December 20th up to today's post on January 9th! Yep...these flowers are still on display on my dining table. Each time I look at these flowers they give me joy...and help me to forget that right outside my door there is 8 inches of snow! Brrrr.....Spring will come eventually, right?
What are your tips for keeping store bought flowers fresh? Any great ideas for flower arranging? What's happening in your life today? Any snow on the ground where you live? My goal for blogging in 2017 is to increase readership and comments, so please leave a comment below. It makes my day! Also, if you would care to "like" "share" or tell others about Debbiethisandthat.com please do so. It will be so appreciated! You can also follow me on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest if you want more of Debbiethisandthat. Also, subscribe to Debbiethisandthat.com so posts can be sent to your email and you will never miss a post! Remember, there is no Debbiethisandthat without you...my faithful readers...and how I appreciate each and every one of you!
Have A Great Flower Filled Day!
Until Next Time,
Debbie
4 comments:
Both arrangements are beautiful! Like you, I really enjoy fresh flowers. There was a very active women's garden club in the small town where I grew up, so as a child, I took a children's flower arranging course taught by some women from the garden club. Having instruction in flower arranging piqued my interest at the time, but I have to admit that I have forgotten much of what I learned at that young age. My husband is an avid gardener, and during the spring and summer, I reap the benefits by being able to cut and "loosely" arrange flowers from the yard. I have learned by trial and error which flowers from the yard last longer than some others. I learned some new tips from your post about getting flowers to linger. And what a nice addition to your home it is to have fresh flowers in the midst of the winter. I think I'll try that too and not wait for summer to enjoy lovely blooms!
I love that red vase!! Your idea for the arrangement with the pinecones is beautiful for winter, and that vase sets the whole thing off. The original bouquet was lovely, and those lilies...didn't one appear in your white dress post the other day?!
I have found when trying to preserve flowers longer, it really helps to strip off all of the leaves below water level. That prevents the cloudy water (at least prevents it a little longer), and prevents that smell. I also change water daily, trimming a little off the stems each day when changing water. Seems to work. I think, having seen that red vase, I'd have been really anxious for things to move along with the aging process just to get them trimmed down and into that little vase! That is just beautiful! We've had snow on the ground here too long for my taste. I tell myself there will be some nice days in March. Not many, but more than this!! My grandson (in the Charlotte area) was THRILLED to see the dusting of snow they got. He was up early trying to sled down their hill, bless his heart! His girlfriend sent me 10 emails Saturday morning with pictures, she was so excited! I was excited for them!
Thanks, Sharon, for stopping by. How wonderful to have been able to take advantage of the garden club when you were growing up! I don't exactly have a green thumb, so I mostly rely on store bought flowers. I'm pretty good at growing impatiens...but, the deer like them!
Karen, what a great idea to strip off the leaves. That would help with the cloudy water. Something I will try in the future! And, you have an "eagle eye" to notice the lily I am holding in the white dress picture. You're right, it was from my arrangment!The snow was nice, but I'm glad it's gone now. I prefer no snow, to snow!
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