Daffodil Forest

Video Transcription

Many of you know that narcissus; daffodils are my favorite flower of all. Today, we doing a daffodil forest or a narcissus forest. Whichever way you want to go, botanical or common, it's beautiful.

The mechanics. I started with the lovely cement bowl. It's not waterproof so it is lined, and then I filled it with pre-soaked midnight foam with the enhanced biodegradable qualities. It's taped in place to be secure. The star of the show, daffodils, the narcissus. They're all from Barefoot Farms Floral, right outside of Portland here. Graduate certified floral designer, Linda DePersis, started this farm and specializes in so many different varieties of narcissus. You can see, they're absolutely gorgeous.

Placing the daffodils first, just as they would grow, mimicking mother nature, so placing them into the foam, straight up and down. Some of the heads will look at you, some will be slightly turned, and of course, since it's all-sided, some are going to actually face the opposite direction. Most of them will be the same height, just as they would grow in the garden, but some may end up a little bit shorter. But all in all, you want to create a forest of daffodils, a personal paradise with all the flowers standing tall and marching across the container, side to side and front to back.

With your daffodil forest in place, you want to begin covering your mechanics, tucking in a bit of moss so that it conceals the foam, the tape, creating a beautiful bed for your daffodils. Then in addition to that, coming in with some linear pussy willow to add excitement, a little bit of contrast, and bring the gray of the container up towards the top, so tucking. I'll finish the back in a bit, but I'll come in with my pussy willow, some taller pieces, and then also shorter ones, enhancing the overall arrangement, bringing them all the way around so that it supports visually all your beautiful daffodils, adds that little bit of contrast of the gray. I'm just feeding them in. Some will be a little too tall, so breaking them down just a bit, and then setting them in. Repeating, maybe bringing a tall one towards the front, and you can even take tiny ones and insert them in closer so that it feeds in with the daffodils.

For visual weight, drawing the yellow downward, going to a bright yellow carnation. Cutting them down, you just need them to create a collar right around the base. It will help support thy pussy willow and draw the eye downward into the arrangement and give a nice ring to finish off your forest. So we have a ground cover, trees, and a forest of daffodils. For a final touch, just a few galax leaves to pick up the green of the stems and carry it outward in the arrangement. Just tucking it in, nestling it underneath the carnations, and placing them here and there. You don't want them consistent all the way around, but you want a spot of them here and maybe a spot over here, just to bring that green throughout. Then a small bit of pieris to add some texture and break it apart. One stem actually will go a long ways, so bring that in, just to soften. Maybe another piece on the opposite side, finding a perfect spot, and then tucking in a few more front and back.

The recipe, built upon Midnight Foam. Then I used 50 of the Narcissus from Barefoot Farms, one full bunch of the Pussy Willows. Yes, took the entire bunch, just cut it apart. Then 20 heads of the Carnation to do the base. 10 stems of Galax and two stems cut apart of the Pieris, and all together, absolutely fabulous.

Narcissus, so many different varieties, all so fabulous. You'll find more creative inspiration with them and many other flowers on our website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Find 50 of your favorite blooms. Be it a narcissus, a tulip, an iris, they all would be fabulous. Gather some branches and create your own forest. Be sure to take a picture and post it on social media, #FloralDesignInstitute. That way, we all can see what you do as you do something you love.