Back to School Flower-Style

It's back-to-school time -- why give the teacher just one apple when you can have an arrangement full of them! In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne uses a vintage container from her personal collection paired with sunflowers & garden roses, and shares the professional techniques for securing fresh apples into a design. Enjoy!

Video Transcription 


Welcome to the Flower School .com video library. I'm Leanne Kesler, director of the Floral Design Institute. And today, we're getting ready for back to school, flower-style. 


The container is one from my personal collection. It's a two-part. I secured floral foam in, presoaked with flower food. Second part, this beautiful ceramic basket. This was created in the fifties at the Wolper Art Studios in California. 


To secure the apples in place, two wood picks, just speared directly into the bottom. Then to make sure that it doesn't let go, using a little bit of Oasis Floral Adhesive, glue right around the insertion point. And then let that dry. You don't need the wires. So go ahead and cut those off. 


Once the glue has dried, you can set them straight down into the foam. Will securely sit. Think about how you want them angled, maybe grouping two on one side and one on the other. Then, since they're heavy, if you take a little bit of your cold glue and place it on the insertion point with the foam, it actually will help lock those in place so that they can't slip out. 


The sunflowers. That becomes my focal emphasis. So cutting them short, which sunflowers can be a little frustrating sometimes because their heads do their own thing. But if you cut them down short, then you can have control and you don't have to worry about it. Placing two together, terraced, to help draw the eye inward. And then bringing one more out the opposite side, creating a horizontal line through the arrangement.


To finish, just filling in with a bit of foliage. The variegated pittosporum is great because it picks up the green of the apple and a little bit of that ivory hue that lightens everything, letting it break the line of the container. Pulling it through. Then hypericum in a soft buttery, yellow, adding some texture. Then tiny scabiosa. Also in that ivory creamy white works well with the pittosporum. Making sure I put some to the right, some to the left, pulling it through all the way so that it really ties and looks unified from front to back. Then lastly, some beautiful garden roses. These are wild-grown right here in Portland, Oregon, and they're so fabulous. Just tucking them in, letting them be the star of the show. 


The recipe. I worked with threes quite a bit. I had three of the Granny Smith apples, three of the sunflowers, and then three of the wild garden roses. Then I started with the five hypericum, 15 of the scabiosa, and then two stems that I broke down of the variegated pittosporum. 


Back to school always does make me think of an apple for the teacher. But today, I think apples for everybody is in order, and you can see how fun. You'll find more creative inspiration and more apple designs on our website at Flower School .com. If you have questions, you can reach out through there or pick up the telephone and give us a call at (503) 223-8089. Now it's your turn. Find some apples, create away, be sure to take a picture and post it on social media, hash tag Floral Design Institute. That way we all can see what you do, as you do something you love.

  • Crowning Glory Individual Pack 32 ounce spray bottle
    Crowning Glory Individual Pack 32 ounce spray bottle
  • Fresh Flower Food Individual Pack 10 ounce tub
    Fresh Flower Food Individual Pack 10 ounce tub
  • Quick Dip Individual Pack One Pint
    Quick Dip Individual Pack One Pint
  • Oasis Floral Adhesive Individual Pack 3.9 Gram Tube
    Oasis Floral Adhesive Individual Pack 3.9 Gram Tube
  • Wired Wood Picks Bundle of 375 4 inch
    Wired Wood Picks Bundle of 375 4 inch