Flowers fresh from the
florist commonly come with overlong stems and the greenery bunched to the back.
Show off your blossoms by arranging them in a vase to take advantage of their
colors and placement.
1 Pick your color scheme. You could either select flowers for your
bouquet in a range of colors or go with a monochromatic scheme. Look for
varying types of flowers as well.
2 Select a vase that will hold all of the flowers without a great
deal of open or leftover space. The blooms should be able to fit tightly
against one another when arranged, not droop off to the sides alone.
3 Determine the height of the bouquet. This may be dictated by the
size of the vase or where the bouquet will be displayed. Smaller vases and spaces
may require flowers with their stems cut down, while larger vases and open
areas may benefit from longer stems and trailing blossoms.
4 Trim off the ends of the stems. Use gardening shears and remove
enough stem so that the flowers fit your vase neatly.
5 Treat the blossoms to help keep them fresh longer.
Wrap the ends of roses
in brown paper and dip them in boiling water to force air from the stems. Leave
them in the water until it cools, and then trim the stems again.
Spray cooking spray on
tropical flowers to help seal in their moisture.
Dip the heads of
hydrangeas and other large flowers into water to soak for a few minutes before
arranging them.
6 Rotate the vase constantly as you place the flowers inside it. This
will ensure you don't neglect any one area and give an even hand to the entire
bouquet.
7 Place the larger,
more vivid blossoms in the vase first, and then place the smaller blooms around
them.
8 Vary the blossoms in height and color evenly throughout the arrangement.
Tuck smaller flowers around the edges and keep longer, trailing plants toward
the center and top.
9 Add some support to the bouquet so that it doesn't lean to one side. Use large, leafy tree branches to hold up more delicate flowers and provide a
backdrop for bouquets without a lot of greenery. Wrap clear hair elastic around
the stems of the bouquet right at the waterline to pack the flowers tightly
together and force them to support one another.
Commands:
Step away from the
arrangement frequently as you work to help get a better sense of how it is all
coming together. Working too close to the arrangement may give you a false
sense of scale.
Add a few drops of
bleach to the water just before placing the flowers in it. This will help kill
off any bacteria in the water and help your arrangement last longer.