I'm so inspired by all I learned about beautiful flowers and flower arrangement by completing the Heartfelt Floristry: Fundamentals of Floral Design workshop with "La Musa de las Flores" Gabriela Salazar.
In the workshop I learned everything: choosing flowers and the right vessels, processing and taking care of flowers, and how to create different floral compositions. Find my workshop notes below, in case it may inspire you to design with flowers too.
I. SELECTING A VESSEL
Consider:
- Color
- Texture
- Size
- Material
Think about the shape, size, and where the arrangement is going to be placed: entrance, dining room, living room, event...
Neutral Vessels - are vessels that work well with any flower.
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| Gabriela arranging flowers with a neutral vessel. |
Vessels with Personality - are vessels that may require a little quiet down, maybe with one single type of flower to let the shape and colors of the vessel pop more beautifully and the flower stands out.
Simple Clear Bottles - are great for single or few stems. Different heights that look good together could be arranged in a composition or one vessel/flower(s) arrangement could be on its own.
Shallow vessels - are wonderful for holiday and special events centerpiece arrangements. With them you can create comfortable stylish and elegant decorations that do not block the view.
Cylinders - if layered at different levels, don't need support.
Other Materials
Chicken wire - easy to find at hardware store, give flowers a lot of support and freedom to move around vessel. Cut chicken wire three times the size of your vessel and create a little snake, giving your flowers three layers of support. Place chicken wire inside your vessel.
Waterproof tape - to support the chicken wire inside your vessel.
Kenzan or Pin frog - piece of metal used in Japan for floral design.
Waterproof Clay - to secure the Pin Frog to vessel. Cut a piece and stick it around the Pin Frog.
Rubber bands - to secure handheld arrangements such as hand-tied bouquets.
Florist parchment/wax paper - water proof to secure handheld arrangements such as hand-tied bouquets.
II. CHOOSING & PREPARING FLOWERS
Types of Flowers in an Arrangement
Main and Focus Flowers - the big flowers that will make your arrangements really stand out. Size of your hand, usually, unless it is for a large scale arrangement.
Base - The small delicate flowers that will be the base of your arrangement. Ex. yarrow, its texture and different tones is an ideal base for floral arrangements. Foliage could also be used as base for arrangements.
Companion or Supporting Flowers - flowers that have a different size than the main one that will go from one size of the arrangement to the other one creating beautiful shape and color.
Textural Flowers - You are also looking for texture. Anything that brings texture into your arrangement is amazing: yarrow, rice flowers, grasses. Texture makes an arrangement juicier and more beautiful.
Movement Flowers - Curvy stems like cosmos, butterfly ranunculus, delicate stems for movement. Flowers that could provide a visual flow that draws your eye from one side to another.
Choosing Flowers For Your Arrangement
- Go local and seasonal when you can, they are healthier, fresher, last longer in your arrangements, and have a lot of personality.
- Go to the market or garden and look at flowers and get closer to them and get to know them.
- Allow yourself to fall in love with one flower and take it from there. That flower will dictate the shape of your arrangement and the colors. If you take the time to look close to one flower she can give you the right steps to buy the rest of your flowers.
1. Select your favorite Focal/Main flowers (2) and look to them closely.
2. Select smaller flowers that have different textures and different tones that are complementary to the focal/main or create contrast.
Ways to think about color:
- Think of arranging lighter to darker tones.
- Think also that you might want contrast, ex. not just dark but also light moments in it etc.
- Look closely to flowers to give you a hint to the right contrast. They might have a hint of tones that speak to the focal or main flower's colors.
3. Select accent textural flowers - Ex. Celosia is an ideal accent if looking for texture.
Preparing Your Flowers
- Clean water; avoid bacteria in water.
- Sap is not good for other flowers, so when using flowers that have sap ex. Tweedias, Poppies, Ficus, Daffodils, most Succulent flowers, cut the flowers, put them stem in boiling water for 10 seconds. That will make the sap to stop. Then put them in cold water.
- Remove the leaves with sharp scissors so that the water hydrates the flower. Although leaves are beautiful, you want your flower to drink as much water as possible.
- Cut flowers' stem in diagonally way before placing them in water to make sure it can drink water. If cut straight, the end might stick to the bottom, preventing the flower from drinking water.
- Give your flowers enough room to open . Don't jam too many flowers into one vessel because that will rotten the petals and won't allow them to open.
- Another type of stem that you have to learn to process is the woody stems. Any woody stem benefits from not only cutting it diagonally but also splitting the end inch into two. You can even scratch the wood from the woody stem and that would really allow the stem to drink water and hydrate properly. Commonly used flowers with woody stems include lilacs, hydrageas, and wisterias.
- Some types of flowers create a lot of bacteria in water, like yarrow and rice flower. So it's really good that you clean them. Remove rotten parts, rotten leaves, and all bottom leaves that would otherwise touch water. Don't let leaves touch water.
- If you really clean your stems kindly your flowers will last longer and won't need anything else.
III. SIMPLE DELICATE ARRANGEMENTS
"You can follow the flowers. They will guide you."
~Gabriela Salazar
Here is how to create a very soft, romantic, beautiful, effortless centerpiece...
The four layers you always need to remember when making an arrangement are: shape, the base of the arrangement, main or focus flowers, and movement with "all these" little gestures.
The Mechanics
1. Vessel - small neutral compote vase.
2. Chicken Wire three times the size of the diameter of the vase shaped like an S for three levels of support of flowers.
3. Two perpendicular lines of waterproof tape to hold the wire. Tape the sides of tape together to give more space to flowers.
4. Fill vessel with water to top, about mid chicken wire.
Creating Shape
Find beautiful foliage with very graceful stems. Think of your arrangement as a sculpture. Find curvy stems that will create that very graceful shape in your arrangement. You might want to create something that moves like a tree, that feels like is opening/moving organically.
Foliage - abutilon.
Building the Base
"An artist has a canvas and decides the colors to put on canvas. This is the same but you paint with flowers. And what you want to do is have a specific color palette." ~ Gabriela Salazar
Base - yarrow from one side of the arrangement to the other. This moment is of the creamy yarrow.
Throw the more graceful and delicate ones outside your vessel. The more hardy ones are great for the bottom of the arrangement.
Focal Flowers
Focal/main flowers are the bigger size flowers, the main attraction of the arrangement. But you don't want them to be capturing all the attention to not let the rest shine too. So place the focal flowers one in the rear right another one front left outside of the arrangement and bridge them with other types of flowers that will go from one side of the arrangement to the other. So they look beautiful but don't take all the attention. They will share the attention with the flowers that are going to be inside the arrangement.
Is all the little flowers, medium-sized flowers that will go from one side of the arrangement to the other and will compliment the big focal flowers.
Focal Main Flowers: Honey Dijon Rose (but can also use peonies, dahlias... flowers that are very beautiful and spectacular.)
Companion or Supporting Flowers
Companion or Supporting Flowers are placed from one side to the other side, complementing the focal flowers, and bridging the colors.
You create movement by placing flowers in different levels. You are trying to crate waves in your arrangements all the time.
While filling this layer, think about how to build up to the fourth layer that is all about the graceful movement on top of the arrangement. Ex. taking a very neutral and soft focal/base all the way until the more bright yellow moment with the movement flowers. How do you build up the color palette to get there? That's something to consider in this layer.
To create that build up from the neutral roses to the bright yellow movement flower, beautiful cornel bronze dahlias facing opposite sides around the middle of the arrangement.
Supporting flowers: Warabara roses ran from one side to the other side, complementing the focal flowers and bridging the colors. Astromelias ran from one side to the other side, complementing the focal flowers and bridging the colors.
Movement Moment
Add graceful movement with curvy stems that give excitement to the arrangement.
Movement flower: butterfly daffodils placed higher (measured and not cut much) facing opposite direction on each side to create movement.
Summary
Make a small compote floral arrangement by first creating a shape with foliage with very graceful stems, create a base of flowers that will build up the color palette of your arrangement. Focal flowers always on the side so that they have an attention, but not take all the attention. And rivers of flowers from one side of the arrangement to the other, complimenting those focal flowers, and finally, small little flowers with very graceful, beautiful stems that create all the movement in the arrangement.
IV. STATEMENT ARRANGEMENTS
Centerpieces
Elegant Centerpiece Arrangement
Choosing the right vessel, beautiful branches to create shape, the base of the arrangement with little textural flowers, main flowers, and all the delicate bits to create graceful movement.
The Mechanics
1. Vessel - compote with a pedestal is great for centerpieces. It looks very elegant with an organic shape. It allows flowers to spill out of the base. Ideal for round or rectangular table. If making it for a rectangular table, you ca addd to elements on the side. But if you are doing it for a round table, you just have to take care to cover all the round of your shape.
2. Chicken Wire three times the size of the diameter of the vase shaped like an S for three levels of support of flowers.
3. Two perpendicular lines of waterproof tape to hold the wire. Tape the sides of tape together to give more space to flowers.
4. Fill vessel with water to top, about mid chicken wire.
Creating Shape
Shape - something coming up on one side, something going down on the other side. A very graceful organic shape almost like the branches of a tree. The surface and feel of plant material, from soft and smooth to rough and irregular. Place it in a position where you can see all the little details like emerging fruit. Create high point. Check that one site is not competing with the other for height (remember wave), cut branches if necessary to make shape open and dramatic. Add branches with details like raspberries where you can see the details. Every time you ad something like a fruit is going to be quite heave. If the branch has to support a lot of weight, be mindful of where you place it, somewhere very secute with the chicken wire, and you might want to cut it quite short.
Foliage - raspberry branches. Lovely texture in the leaves. Texture where the fruit is coming out.
Building the Base
Cut it short covering wire. Create movement.
Base - yarrow
Main Flowers
When using big flowers place one on left side in front of foliage and base flowers looking forward and on right side looking forward to the opposite side.
Main flowers: 2 big Cafe Au Lait Dahlias
Companion or Supporting Flowers
Seniors Hope Dahlia and Silence Night Dahlia cut quite short placed from one side to the other, including one next to main, close to the neck but never sinking into the vessel
Spray roses (stem with a lot of little roses inside), edit them by cutting them into separate ones if needed to avoid tighten them together. Don't be afraid to open them to showcase the center of them discovering the incredible different tones inside of them. They are flexible allowing you to touch them.
Ball Dahlias to add texture
Zinnias not only to add texture but also to bring the colors together, softening the color of the foliage if needed.
Adding Movement
Cosmos placed to add a high moment, it is really important for your arrangement. Then placed in opposite side lower (remember the waves). Add more as you feel.
Step back from your arrangement. Add as you feel, perhaps one spilling out lower of the vessel.
Summary
Creating shape with branches, bringing focal flowers without taking all the attention of your arrangement, all the supporting flowers for it, loads of textures, and at the end, graceful movement for your arrangement.
V. LARGE SCALE STATEMENT ARRANGEMENT
Creating a showstopper arrangement. The kind of arrangement that you'll guest would go, wow. The 5 layers to create a large-scale arrangement,
The Mechanics
1. Vessel - Neutral clay or ceramic large cylinder
2. Chicken Wire three times the size of the diameter of the vase shaped like an S for three levels of support of flowers.
3. Two perpendicular lines of waterproof tape to hold the wire inside because there is enough space. Tape the sides of tape together to give more space to flowers.
4. Fill vessel with water to cover chicken wire.
Creating Shape
Shape - when sourcing for large branches look for curve with beautiful flowers, texture, delicate look. After preparing the woodsy branches for water, just see where it wants to land comfortable in the base. One branch should go up the other down. The shape to look for is one of growing from the ground up to the sky. Like the shape of a tree. That open shape will make your arrangement look incredible, more beautiful.
Leave center clear for flowers. Don't be afraid to edit the branches by cutting branches.
Support the branches with more foliage.
Foliage - Abelia and two more with nice delicate curve.
Building the Base
Although this is also a textural layer and color layer, you cut these short to support some of the shape branches so that they stop moving. Cut for flowers to be just above the top of the vessel.
Grouping the colors makes the color palette stronger.
Base - yarrow
Main Flowers
For this layer you want really beautiful impressive flowers.
Main flowers: 5 Dahlias. 2 big dinner plate size Cafe Au Lait Dahlias.
Companion or Supporting Flowers
Create river from front to back of arrangement with Peaches & Cream Dahlias. One hanging with movement on top, low, and next to main.
Adding Movement
Adding movement with different texture and shape flowers so you can make the arrangement more juicy.
Astromelia
Orange tangerine dahlias
Cosmos
Step back from your arrangement. Add as you feel, perhaps one spilling out lower of the vessel.
Summary
You need big branches to create the shape of a large-scale flower arrangement, a soft layer of flowers that will create texture and the base of color, focal flowers, companion-supporting flowers and movement.
VI. STYLING AROUND A CENTERPIECE
Table styling for a party just to gather with friends, by adding fruits and vines, votives and candles, placing your dinnerware, and the small little details.
Fruits & Vines
Bring o the table small details that will make it unexpected and beautiful. So be on the lookout for things that would compliment your arrangements. How beautiful is a clematis vine? Any vine that brings lines of movement can be helpful.
Use fruit to connect colors. Think about how it can look natural. Raspberries have a beutiful color that can compliment the color of some flowers for example.
When you bring small details into the table just throw them there. Don't think much about it. Just think as if the fruit just fell of of the vines. Make the fruit available to your guests as well. There are some unexpected fruits and vegetables that can be added to the table, not only because of beauty, but sometimes you're calling for color. Ex. Tuna (cactus fruit/prickly pear) have that red rich color that compliments the raspberries and flowers. Pomegranate can also be beautiful, zucchini, tomatoes, aubergines... blueberries... Sometimes you can cut the fruit in half to show the color inside. Make sure you don't stain the table, bring plates to experiment. Just play as you go along.
Sit down to see what your guests are going to see.
Votives & Candles
Lighting a table makes it more romantic. Votives are small, so you can easily add them to a table to make reflections and beautiful lighting. You can place them in nice glass that matches the tableware.
Taper candles come in many sizes and color. You can place them on opposite sides, not necessarily parallel they can be diagonally aligned.
Flatware & Silverware
Pick plates that compliment the linen and other things on the table and the occasion. For breakfast lunch or brunch plates can be decorative, more casual for dinner plane plates look more elegant.
Napkins can be paper or linen (cloth), they could look beautiful at the top of the plate. You can place a little detail element (like a, herb, a small flower) at the top of the napkin.
Adding Floral Details
To compliment the centerpiece flower arrangement, you can place small simple bottles with single or few thin delicate stems to bring the color into your table even more.
Note
When you think of a table think that you don't want to just bring an arrangement to it. You also want to add unexpected details like vines and fruits and candles, and other flowers. It doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to feel good and make your table even more beautiful. Don't forget to sit down at the table while you are styling to experience what your guests are going to see. Move things around. Make sure things look beautiful to you.
Summary
Bringing your arrangement into a table and style the table. From vines and fruits, votives and candles, flatware, and adding unexpected details into your table.
VII. HANDHELD ARRANGEMENTS
Hand-tied Bouquets / Wedding Florals
You can bring them everywhere. You can take them to someone and share the beauty of flowers with them.Selecting Flowers
Look for:
- main flowers that would look beautiful,
- a lot of movement,
- delicate stems that will make the arrangement bouncy and dancing.
1. Foliage
2. Base flowers
3. Main Focus Flowers
4. Movement Gestures
Building a Bouquet:
Shape
Create shape with the foliage. Hold your foliage in one hand and start to create some kind of shape. Find a beautiful way to present your flowers.
Examples of foliage: Leafy green ferns, creeping ivy, lush eucalyptus
Base
This layer is all about creating texture with flowers that are more resilient and can be of great support for more delicate flowers.
Flowers that are textural: Look for blooms that are heavy in texture such as delphinium, heather, or queen Anne.
Companion or Support Flowers
Make sure each flower has its own space inside your hand.
Understand which flowers need to be higher because they are more fragile or delicate. Ex. dahlias usually go higher than roses.
Keep your body relaxed, you want to open your hands so that you don't squish the flowers. Hold them gently, not tight.
Pairing blooms of different hues give your arrangement visual rhythm.
Support flowers: 2 light pink Spray Warabara Rose branch with 6 roses, 6 wine Dahlias, 3-4 light pink with a touch of yellow dahlia.
There aren't rules, add as you feel it makes your arrangement more beautiful, graceful, and and complete.
Movement
Add movement gestures with beautiful curvy bouncy flowers. Look for flowers with graceful delicate stems for your gestures like sweet peas, fuchsias, and anemone.
Turn around and examine the bouquet looks good all around. Add one flower facing back and a beautiful curvy vine hanging out would look very beautiful.
Holding & Wrapping Handheld Bouquet Arrangements
Rubber band - find the strongest stem you find in your bouquet to not damage the fragile stems. Put rubber band around the strong stem only, wrap both sides of rubber band around bouquet in a loop and go back to the strong stem to secure the bouquet.
or
Waterproof tape - preferred because it gives the flowers more freedom to move. It gives flowers space to breathe. Cut piece of tape, hold bouquet on the side, grab the piece of tape with your thumb, and make a couple of loops.
Wrapping for Presentation & Protection
This is the way to travel with cut arranged flowers – the way to wrap the bouquet if you want your flowers to arrive hydrated and not sad...
Rough cotton (estopa) - keep the flowers and stems wet as they travel, it holds more water than wet paper towels that could also be used. Wet it well, a lot.
Small plastic bag - roll sides like a cocoon to hold the wet rough cotton inside.
Give flowers stems a straight cut in this case before putting them in the bag with the rough cotton. Make sure each stem is drinking water from the cotton and tighten the bag around the bouquet and wrap it with rubber band to hold plastic with cotton in place.
Special wax paper for flowers that is waterproof - preferred to craft paper that could also be used because it doesn't break when it gets wet.
Wrapping
- Place bouquet inside the paper with the dancing bits outside the paper,
- fold paper while holding flowers in place,
- wrap them a little under.
Summary
Explore with different flowers. Just place them together in a nice way. Select your different types of arrangement flowers, put them together in a nice simple way, wrap them. Just be free to explore with flowers. Flowers are always a great gift.
VIII. ARRANGING WITH GREENERY
Another great way of exploring nature is going out there, cut some greens, bring them home, and make them part of your everyday life.
Here are tips to make arrangements without using flowers. How to choose your vessels and green, and how to style them in groups to bring them into your home.
Choosing the Right Vessel
Single stems bottles allows for something that looks very beautiful, very clean, very elegant. It's also the best way to style one fern or one single stem.
Square Vessels - are great for a more minimal modern look.
Round - classical vessel.
Both are beautiful. Source different groups of styles, sizes, and shapes and see how they look together.If you have different sizes of vessels you will create a group of arrangements that will have more movement and more texture. And you can play with different elements at the same time.
Composition - The arrangement of individual vessels into larger artistic grouping.
Choosing the Right Greens
Look for different textures, shapes, heights, tones.
Ferns are beautiful and will last a long time in your vessel, 2 weeks or even more. Change the water of the vessels and that will keep the water without any bacteria. A few drops of chlorine can help the water stay bacteria free and extend the life of your arrangement.
As an alternative to fern try experimenting English ivy, geranium foliage, or any large branches to give an organic look.
Styling Your Arrangement
- Make sure they look lose of the neck of your vessel if using more than one.
- Find balance between something delicate and soft with something that looks more strong.
- Design compositions that looks good together and style them inside the house as a set or alone.
- Maybe add books, candles, add it to a table
1st Set: Classic Rounded Bottles
Maiden Fern in medium clear rounded bottle ad texture and delicate element.
Wild Orchid stem/branch in larger rounded bottle. Feminine and beautiful and would pair well with the maiden fern.
Asparagus fern in medium bottle
Orchid seeds small bottle
Larger fern biggest bottle
2nd Set: Beautiful & Modern Square Bottles
Spider plants in small square bottle
Spider orchids
Delicate small fern (3) - something softer to balance this set. To soften the composition
Tall fern with nice textural tones
Even taller fern
Summary
Go outside, cut things, play with them, put them in different vessels. Add different texture, different heights, different movement. Look for different directions for your plants to look and just have a go. We learned how to choose your vessels, your greenery, how to style and then group them together, and think about this inside your home. The idea is bringing nature into your home, and there are many ways to do it.
IX. BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS FOR ARRANGEMENTS
Focal/Main Flowers
Dahlia - Great main focus flower in large scale arrangement. Type examples: Cafe Au Lait Dahlia, Seniors Hope Daliah and Silence Night Dahlia
Chrysanthemums - great flower for single stem vessels because they have beautiful graceful thin stem and amazing shape so they don't need any companion. They look amazing on their own.
Peonies
Roses - Honey Dijon,
Companion or Supporting Flowers
Smaller roses - ex. wabara, wirrabara, Spray roses (stem with a lot of little roses inside)
Smaller dahlias - ex. cornel bronze dahlias, ball dahlias
Astromelias
Zinnias
Textural Flowers
Celocia
Yarrow
Rice Flowers
Grasses
Movement Flowers
Cosmos
Butterfly Ranunculus
Sweet Peas
Fuchsias
Anemone
Greens
Ferns
Maiden Ferns
Wild Orchid
Spider Plant
Balance of delicate and soft with strong/modern
Cut leaves
Base Flowers
Flowers that support the main delicate flowers. Any more resilient flowers that can support more delicate ones.
Yarrow
Rice Flower
Dianthus
Flocks
Queens Anne's Lace
Wild Parsnips
Hydrangeas
Foliage
Millions of options. Look for the seasonal foliage around you. The most delicate curvy stems are ideal when looking for arranging flowers.
Loropetalum - ideal for a dark foliage arrangement. Its stem goes from green, brown, darker..., good texture and shape too.
Abutilon
Raspberry branches (anything with fruit)
Tomato vines
Abelia
Leafy green Ferns
Creeping Ivy
Lush Eucalyptus
Myrtle
Juniper
Boxwood
