Elevated White Arrangement

Video Transcription

Today, I want to share with you designing with one of my favorite vases, doing an all way around arrangement, filling it in with mechanics that make it professional and stable. Let me show you how it's done.

The star of the show, the beautiful roses. They're all from gardenrosesdirect.com. They're all that beautiful varieties of white. Perfect for the Pantone Color of the Year. I'm using Patience, Aurora Garden, and White Cloud to get a bit of variation. And it'll be enhanced with some Queen Anne's Lace and hydrangea. For the container, an antique vessel from my storage, because I want to talk about how customers many times will bring in one of their own containers and want you to design. The neck is not big enough really for many flowers, but the vase demands large. So to do that, you use a loamy tray, foam, anchored in place, then glue dashes, because this won't hurt the vase. They can come back off later, just kind of put them on. I like to do three. Seems to be more stable, and then just pull the tab off. That is always the hardest part. If you've worked with glue dashes, you know, finding that tab, then just setting it on top and you're ready to design.

As I begin, I go through and I score my corners because it gives you an easier surface to work with. Then starting with a bit of foliage, some eucalyptus will be great, breaking it and letting it drape. It'll help cover all the mechanics. Maybe bring some up a little bit. Add a bit of dusty miller, but I keep it shorter because as it fades, it'll just add texture, but you don't want it to droop all down the front of the vessel. So tucking it in, bringing some up, and then adding in the hydrangeas. With those, I'm removing the leaves because the green-green doesn't work as well with the blue-green. Dipping it in the alum and then tucking it in. Again, letting it drape over and repeat. Doing this all the way around so that as you turn it, it looks beautiful from all sides with the dusty miller, the eucalyptus, and the hydrangea.

Now it's time for the roses. I'm using the three different varieties so that I get variation in white. Gives it a little more character, a nuance, making sure they go in deeply enough that they drink well. And then on some, going ahead and taking in a second one and tucking it in lower. So you're grouping them together, shadowing one under the other, just to give it a little bit more visual value, then turning it, bringing in the next rose. Again, working on that insertion, an absolute minimum of two inches. Think about flower school. You know we teach that all the time. And if you do that, your flowers will last so much longer. You don't have to worry about them, even though it's in foam. The only thing you have to be careful is make sure that the foam stays wet, so you may have to add water, but you don't have to worry about the flowers fading.

As a final touch, that lightness of Queen Anne's Lace, letting it come in, adding a little more texture, some softness to the design, spinning it around, tucking it, some a little lower, some a tiny bit taller, so you get just that little bit of movement throughout the design.

The recipe, we featured the Roses from Garden Roses Direct. I used a total of 12 stems, four each of Patience, Aurora Garden, and White Cloud. Then I filled it in. The base was Dusty Miller, five stems, Eucalyptus, five stems, the white Hydrangea, 10 stems of that. And then the Queen Anne's Lace, 10 stems to finish it off.

Working with special vessels is so much fun. Even more fun when you have amazing flowers. You'll find more creative techniques and education on the website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Find your favorite vase. Scrounge through all your cupboards or maybe your friend's cupboard. Then find a tray, a bit of foam and design away. Take a picture, post on social media and #FloralDesignInstitute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.