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Essential information
There is not a great deal that you need to know about flowers, nor a great deal of equipment that you will require before you are able to create your own arrangements. However, there are a few guidelines you should follow if you want to keep your flowers in good condition so that they will last as long as possible once arranged. This section contains all the essential information you will need to know, from advice on preparing and caring for your plants, to more detailed instructions for wiring flowers and wrapping bouquets.
Once they are cut, flowers only live for a short time unless they are put into water, and once in water they need to be able to take up water easily to last well. To help this process, it is best to cut their stems at a very sharp angle with a pair of florists' or good kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. The angle is important because this exposes a large area of the inside of the stem, helping the flower to draw up the water more efficiently. You should always cut the stem, even if you have only recently picked the flowers in the garden, and certainly if you have bought the flowers from a flower shop. When the stem is soft it should be bruised as little as possible, so a sharp cut is best. Hard brown stems are a different matter -- after cutting, these need to be hammered. Hollow stems should be cut and then filled with water and either plugged or upended with your thumb over the end, into the vase water, while stems containing milky sap should be sealed with a flame. Once the plant material has had a good drink of water for at least a couple of hours it is ready for arranging.
Hints on containers
The choice of container to arrange your flowers in is very personal, but if you want flowers to last as long as possible, shallow containers are best avoided. Many useful-sized containers can be adapted to look more attractive for instance, a simple bucket can be covered with moss or hay before you use it for an arrangement. If the container is not very high or if it does not have an in-curving lip, the flowers will need some support. Wet foam can be very useful for this purpose.
There are a few occasions when you will need to wire flowers before arranging them. Hollow but weak-stemmed flowers can have a wire pushed up their stem to strengthen them. This will also make them a little more pliable, but in general it should be the natural shape of the stem itself rather than an artificially produced shape that gives strength of form to an arrangement. However, flowers used in wedding bouquets and for wearing on clothes or in the hair often need to be completely wired so that they can be arranged into the exact design of your choice.
Finally, in this section, there are lots of helpful hints concerned with the finishing touches of making an attractive flower presentation, such as gift-wrapping a bouquet and making decorative bows.
Tools and materials
To help you create successful flower arrangements, you need only a few essential tools and materials. Of primary importance are some good cutting implements: pruning shears for thick, woody stems, florists' scissors for green stems and wire cutters.
You will need wires of various lengths and thicknesses to strengthen hollow stems for a grand arrangement, and to create stems and make them more pliable for complicated posy, garland and wreath work. Reel wire is essential for tying together a wired bunch or bouquet. And you will need floral tape, raffia or ribbon to conceal wiring.
Foam is invaluable when creating container arrangements when the lip of the container will not support the stems of the flowers. A slab should be thoroughly wetted and then wedged into position in the vase or fixed to a florists' spike, itself stuck to the bottom of the container with adhesive clay. You will then have no difficulty in securing the stems in the loam in precisely the positions you require. The foam is easily concealed with a laver of moss (also used for wreaths) and the whole can be topped up with water when necessary. Chicken wire gives you less control but is useful for arrangements in in-curving vases.
Suitable containers
There is an enormous variety of containers suitable for displaying fresh flowers from the most ornately decorated, highly glazed, grand, Victorian vase to the simplest, rustic-looking little basket. You will probably find that you already have masses of containers to choose from at home, for there is no reason to suppose that the only containers suitable are those that were made with flowers in mind. Teacups, milk pitchers, jam jars, ink pots, baskets, watering cans: all these useful receptacles and many more can be used to contain your fresh flower creations, always remembering to relate the shape anti colors of each arrangement to that of the container.
If the stems of your flowers are in good condition, glass containers, such as the one on p.65, can show off your arrangement very effectively. Porous containers, such as baskets, boxes and unglazed terracotta pots or jugs, are often just right for informal, cottage-garden arrangements but these will need to be made waterproof first. To prepare one for fresh flowers, simply line it with plastic or other waterproof sheeting and conceal this with moss.
Preparing & adapting containers
Although it is not necessary to prepare every single container for displaying fresh flowers -- simpler, natural-looking arrangements can look stunning arranged nonchalantly in a pitcher of water -- flower arranging is often much simpler if the stems are held in supporting material.
Wet foam is the most efficient supporting material. It is easy to sculpt and, if your container is especially large, you can always bind two pieces of wet foam together and fix both to the bottom on florists spikes. Make sure that the foam is thoroughly soaked. If you are preparing a glass vase with wet foam and you wish to conceal it, simply surround it with moss: it loves the water. If the vase has in-curving sides, chicken wire might be a good solution, and, for a simple arrangement, marbles or pebbles will hold flower stems in position as well as adding attractive and unusual decoration.
Some containers will definitely require lining before you fill them with water! Others will need adapting on the outside. An unsightly bucket can be covered prettily with hay an ugly vase can be concealed by a knotted handkerchief, and a clear glass one decorated with colorful paper. You can also create a fresh flower wreath or circlet by following the instructions on the opposite page.
Preparing plant material
Having prepared the container and collected the plant material, it is well worth pausing for just a few minutes to prepare the material. With a little attention at this stage the flowers will last longer and the arrangement look more attractive.
Even if you have only just cut the stems from the plant, you should always cut them anew at a sharp angle to expose a wider surface area. Next, strip all the lower leaves from the stems: otherwise they will only rot in the water. Scraping the bottom of green stems or hammering and cutting the bottom of woody stems helps them to take up water. Then stand all plant material in water for a couple of hours before arranging, pouring water into hollow stems first.
If the stems are reasonably robust, it is often a good idea to plunge them briefly into hot water to encourage them further to take up water. Some flowers can be revived by soaking them in or running them under cool water. Milky stems should be singed to prevent them from oozing in the vase. And the uppermost buds (which will never flower) of particularly buddy plants should be removed.
Caring for plant material
Cut flowers do not take a lot of looking after if they have been prepared appropriately. However, it is important not to place fresh flowers directly in front of a radiator, or in strong direct sunlight, as the heat will cause the flowers to droop remarkably quickly. Not is it advisable to place an arrangement in a spot where people are always brushing against the flowers.
Adding a solution of bleach and sugar to the vase water will prolong the life of the plant material, and changing the water regularly helps to keep it fresh smelling. Removing flowerheads as they die keeps the arrangement attractive looking for longer.
Wiring plant material
Wiring plant material is necessary only when an arrangement requires the flowers and foliage to be contorted into precisely the right position. Wedding posies, circlets and pew ends make such a demand, as do complicated garlands. Wiring the stems can serve both to strengthen them and to make them more pliable.
Hollow-stemmed material is simple to wire: insert a piece of wire into the center, where it will not be visible. With other stems and leaves, wire must be bound around the outside, as shown on the following pages, and then covered with floral tape, so that no unsightly wire is visible.
Wrapping & decorating bouquets
A bouquet, however simple, makes a lovely present, but, as with most gifts, the packaging counts for a lot. You can create a perfect and sumptuous bouquet arrangement, using a simply stunning array of beautiful flowers, or a collection of flowers specially chosen for their significant meanings, but without the stylish wrapping or the complementary bow, the bouquet will not look complete and will probably not give as much joy as it ought.
Wrapping a bouquet is not a difficult matter. Choose paper in colors and patterns that both complement the flowers and that you know the recipient will like. Alternatively, wrap the flowers in cellophane, so that the flowers are visible in all their glory. Try to wrap the flowers only a short time before you present them as they will soon wilt out of water.
However you wrap the flowers, make sure that you adorn the bouquet with either colorful ribbons -- for a bright, joyous, perhaps sophisticated look -- or raffia --for a more rustic effect. The effect of the bow or bows should be dramatic vet in keeping with the style of the bouquet and the colors of the flowers. You can either stick to using single bows for simplicity, or make a multiple bow with several brightly colored ribbons. To complete the bow, leave the long ribbon-ends to trail and curl decoratively down the bouquet.
Useful tips
Choosing flowers to combine in an arrangement is often just as exciting as the actual arranging, but it can be useful to know whether the flowers are all going to last well. To help you in your choice of flowers, below are some lists of long-lived flowers and foliage, together with some short-lived ones. I have also put together some of my favorite combinations of flowers that I particularly enjoy using when creating arrangements.
If your passion is for wild flowers, it is always best to grow the varieties that you like in your own garden. If you pick wild flowers elsewhere, make absolutely sure that what you pick is not a rare or protected species.
The protection of wild flowers
When looking out of doors for wild flowers and plants suitable for picking, it is wise to take along an illustrated guide book for identification of the flora you encounter. In the United States, there are over a hundred rare species of plants and flowers that are protected by law -- and several thousand more in line to be protected.
The laws differ from state to state but are particularly strong on Federal lands where penalties for removing plants can be heavy. Please be aware that a plant that is common in one region of the United States may be considered rare in another region and, therefore, protected by law.
To find out more about the wild plants and flowers that are protected in your area, you can consult reference books and directories at your local library, or contact a wildlife agency or regional office of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
LONG-LASTING FLOWERS
Amaryllis
Bear's breeches
Bird of paradise flower
Camellia
Cape cowslip
Carnation
China aster
Chincherinchee
Chrysanthemum
Cupid's dart
Cymbidium
Gayfeather
Globe thistle
Golden rod
Masterwort
Michaelmas daisy
Painter's palette
Peruvian lily
Protea
Sea holly
Slipper orchid
Statice
Sword lily
Yarrow
LONG-LASTING FOLIAGE
Banksia
Box
Butcher's broom
Camellia foliage
Fan palm
Grevillea
Griselinia
Holly
Ivy
Juniper
Pine
Rhododendron foliage
Skimmia
Spotted laurel
Spruce
Yew
SHORT-LIVED FLOWERS
African lily
Astilbe
Bergamot
Butterfly bush
Gentian
Hibiscus
Laburnum
Lenten rose
Mimosa
Poppy
Sweet pea
Violet
Zinnia
Copyright ©
1988 Dorling Kindersley Limited, London
Text copyright ©
1988 Malcolm Hillier
Library of Congress subject headings for this publication: Flower arrangement, Flowers