Lemon Compote

The Pantone 2021 Flowers of the year (Ultimate Gray and Illumination Yellow) offer so many creative opportunities for floral designers. In this flower school how-to video Leanne combines bright yellow lemons with the Garden Roses Catalina and Lemon Pom Pon, plus yellow Ranunculus, all of these beautiful flowers from Florabundance.com and GardenRosesDirect.com. The foliage Salal, also known as “Lemon Leaf” is the perfect accent. Enjoy!

Video Transcription 


Welcome to the Flower School .com video library. I'm Leanne Kesler, director of the Floral Design Institute, and today I'm here to share with you a fabulous lemon compote. It features the Pantone color of the year, Illumination. 


As I gathered my materials, first stop was the grocery store for lemons. Then I went online to Florabundance.com and GardenRosesDirect.com, typed in yellow in the search instructions and came up with these beautiful roses, Catalina, and then also Lemon Pom Pon, and I couldn't resist the yellow ranunculus, they were so perfect. Then just for a little touch of whimsy, for a florist who understands, salal, common name, lemon leaf. 


The vessel, a mercury glass compote. To protect it, I set the floral foam in a liner, secure it in place. It's pre-soaked with flower food, ready to go. To prep the lemons, I use two six-inch wood picks and just pierce directly into the flesh. Then using your Oasis Floral Adhesive cold glue, add glue at the insertion point. This will make sure that they stay put and block the hole, so there's no separation as it dehydrates. Lastly, go ahead and clip off the ends. You don't need the wires, then set them aside to dry. You don't want to start until the glue has set. Then while that's happening, I can go back with my salal, the lemon leaf, and go ahead and put a base layer of foliage to break the line of the container, radiate from a central binding point and create a nest that will support the lemons and the blooms. 


Now that the glue has set and dried, I can go back and add the lemons into the bouquet. Again, radiating from the central binding point, some coming upward, some a little lower, and then I'm doing round. I want to definitely bring them front to back, side to side, not missing any areas, making sure they're in deeply enough to support that fruit because it is a little heavy, and if you don't get them in deep enough, they could tip and create a problem. Maybe one more. I'm going to scooch this one over a little bit to balance, and then one more right here on this side. 


With the lemons in place and fully rounded, I can go back now and add in my roses, the Catalina garden rose, oh so decadent with that huge pedal count, nestling it in, making sure it's down deeply into the water reservoir, and then coming back with more, some shorter, some taller, so you get a little bit of variation on the depth. Then adding in the Lemon Pom Pon, a little different yellow, and another. As I work, just turning it and balancing from one side to the other, radiating into that central binding point and creating a beautiful lush round bouquet. 


As I finish, I take the last of the roses, the Lemon Pom Pon, and tucking them in, balancing out the colors, and then coming back with the ranunculus, and adding those for that little more vibrant, almost an orangy-yellow adding contrast, and then turning it, balancing from side to side, adjusting height just a bit so that I get variation. Grouping for maximum visual impact, I'm turning, bringing some down towards the bottom. It's not just at top, making sure I carry it from side to side and balancing. Then as I turn, just looking for holes and filling in with additional blooms. 


To make the yellows really pop, adding just a little more green. For this, Israeli ruscus, just add it in between the blooms to finish concealing all the mechanics and to add that little accent that sets the flowers off. So now you'll have the green of the salal and the green of the ruscus setting off the blooms in a perfect lemon compote. 


The recipe starts with 12 lemons, then from Florabundance.com. I used salal, ruscus, and then 10 Lemon Pom Pon roses, and 10 yellow ranunculus. Then from GardenRosesDirect.com, 10 of the Catalina roses paired together a wonderful lemon compote. 


The announcement of the Pantone Colors of the Year for 2021 with the Illumination, the yellow, really brought back lemons into style, and they're so much fun to design with and so easy when you know the techniques. For more creative inspiration, check out our website, Flower School .com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there or pick up the telephone and give me a call at (503) 223-8089. 


Now it's your turn, off to the grocery and get some lemons, then gather your most favorite yellow blooms and create away. Be sure to take a photo, post it on social media and hashtag Floral Design Institute. That way we all can see what you do, as you do something you love.

  • 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
  • Crowning Glory Individual Pack 32 ounce spray bottle
    Crowning Glory Individual Pack 32 ounce spray bottle
  • Oasis Floral Adhesive Individual Pack 3.9 Gram Tube
    Oasis Floral Adhesive Individual Pack 3.9 Gram Tube
  • Waterproof Tape Single Roll 1/4 Inch Wide (Green)
    Waterproof Tape Single Roll 1/4 Inch Wide (Green)
  • Wired Wood Picks Bundle of 375 6 inch
    Wired Wood Picks Bundle of 375 6 inch
  • Utility Bowl Pack of 6 Green
    Utility Bowl Pack of 6 Green