Autumn Design Ring
Autumn magic in full circle. This seasonal floral ring design features garden roses as the star of the show, layered with rich foliage and berries for a warm, textural statement—perfect for fall centerpieces, events, or everyday inspiration. Special thanks to our friends at GardenRosesDirect.com for the beautiful blooms.
Video Transcription
The autumn season means nesting, more time at home, entertaining. You probably have treasures. This is from my home, brought in, adding flowers for a dinner party. Let me show you how it's done.
The materials, starting with an oasis design ring. It has the plastic base, and then I put my personal finial on the top. It's an acorn finial that I keep at home, but I thought, how perfect for autumn. The treasures of the day, Garden Roses Direct gave us these beautiful roses. We have Bessie and Eugenie, both very long-lasting. Both have been sitting out for several days so that they would open up and be beautiful so you could see. When you buy them, they're going to come in super tight, so you need to allow time for them to open fully to get that beauty. Then I've got some foraged Juniper and Fatsia leaves to give that shininess, and then Nandina along with the berries to give it a beautiful autumn finish.
First up, I want to conceal my mechanics. That's where the Fatsia can be fabulous because that big leaf covers so quickly, just bringing it around and repeating, radiating all the way, and just fish scaling. Then coming back, once I do the entire thing with the Fatsia, coming back with a bit of the Juniper, because this has that wonderful kind of golden color, which will be perfect for autumn. And transitions well into winter with the evergreen, feeding that in and repeating. And then lastly, a bit of Nandina to fill it in and complete it all the way around. Once you have the nest, you can stop there. How cool is that? It's going to last and last and last, but to make it special, adding in the garden roses. The Bessie has opened out so beautifully. And by cutting them short, I know for some of you it's going to hurt your heart, but if you cut them short, they're going to continue to last for a very long time because they're close, close to the water source, grouping them, bringing some down a little bit, some a little higher. Then Eugenie, adding that in, and then just spin it around so that you have roses through the full circumference. So you want to have Eugenie and Bessie scattered. You don't want them to be all one or the other. So I put Eugenie over there and I'll pull Eugenie to this side, then go back to Bessie, pulling over to the opposite side and then completing till I run out of roses.
To finish adding in the accent materials. Some Leucadendron gives that same coppery hue, just setting it down in. And the beauty is that it will last and last just as the foliages do. So when the roses do fade, you can pull them out and still have a beautiful arrangement. Then for that pop of color, the Nandina berries, they are so vibrant and they too are long-lasting. They'll dry, look fabulous, just tucking them in, repeating. And as you work, pay attention and turn it so that you get all sides equally beautiful so that it is a full centerpiece that everyone can enjoy.
The last touch, a bit of curly willow just to add some interest. And one thing that works to make it very dynamic is to use a stemming machine and pick the end. Then when you come back to the opposite end, you can go ahead and cut that, place it in, then bring the pick across and place it in again to wind it all the way around. I need a perfect little spot. There we go. Then repeat that with additional pieces. So maybe taking two ends, folding them together, picking it. And then you can place that down into the arrangement, bring it around and insert it in on the opposite side and then keep repeating till you get that movement coming around the entire arrangement.
The recipe, the Garden Roses, the star of the show are from our friends at gardenrosesdirect.com. We have a total of 12 roses, six are Bessie and six are Eugenie. The base, we use beautiful foliages, Fatsia Leaves, Nandina, and Juniper to accent filled in with 10 stems of Leucadendron, 10 bits of the Nandina Berries, and then three branches broken apart of the Curly Willow.
Autumn with all the treasures and beautiful flowers gives you so much opportunity. And yes, we did finish it all the way around. If you want more creative inspiration, check out the website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Find your favorite flowers, find a treasure and create. Be sure to take a picture, post on social media and #floraldesigninstitute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
