Craft: Flower Arranging
With the growing season well underway in the UK, locally grown flowers are plentiful once again; a true celebration of Beltane’s growth and abundance. Seek out seasonal British flowers at your local florist or supermarket, such as tulips, Sweet Williams and peonies, to make your own arrangement at home. Here are some tips I’ve gathered over the years:
1) Prepare your receptacle. I’ve collected everything from 50p Victorian ink bottles at flea markets to enamelware jugs unearthed in charity shops. Flowers require crystal clear water so make sure your container isn’t dirty – I add a drop of bleach to remove any residue, rinse, then add fresh water. You don’t need to fill it all the way up with water otherwise you will drown the flowers.
2) Condition. When you receive your cut flowers, unpack them to let them breathe (most flowers are cut when they are sleeping in the early morning and will wake up in the water!). Before you add each stem to the vessel, trim the ends on the diagonal to increase the surface area available for the flowers to take up water. Remove all greenery that will sit below the water line as it will die and pollute your water, making your arrangement deteriorate faster.
3) Arrange. I like to lay all my stems out in front of me to see the different sizes and shapes I’ve got to work with. Begin with a thick stem of foliage and cross with another long, thick stem, turn the vase, criss-cross two smaller stems and so on. This will enable your flowers to support themselves – rather than the neck of the vase. Keep threading them through, making sure that softer stems, such as tulips, are in the centre and thus supported by the arrangement and less likely to flop over. Work with the different shapes and heights, play, learn and enjoy the process - it’s half the fun.
To make your flowers last:
Always keep your blooms away from direct sunlight, sources of heat (or cold) and, perhaps surprisingly, fruit – as they give off ethylene gas that can cause flowers to deteriorate.
Change your flower water every couple of days, and each time you do, trim the ends a little more. You will be left with much shorter stems by the time your flowers are done but they will last much longer as a result.
Make sure you remove any stems that die off, as they will cause the other flowers to die too. Your arrangement will evolve, but I love ending up with lots of wee posies here and there.
