Modern Sunshine Arrangement


Bring a burst of sunshine to your day with this contemporary yellow design featuring oncidium orchids, willow, and tulips. With underwater stems, airy movement, and sculptural lines, it’s a fresh, modern take on foam-free floral design. All flowers sourced from Florabundance.com.


Video Transcription


Yellow is such a happy color when you add it to tropical, something special, Oncidium orchids, it's amazing what you can do. Let's create a little sunshine together.


The materials, oh my gosh, so fabulous. The Oncidium orchids from florabundance.com, they are beautiful. Then we're going to pair them with tulips, color matches, monochromatic. And then curly willow. For the curly willow, gathering the branches all together, and then winding it around, creating a round form, and then tucking it together and tying it off with bind wire. Just pulling it, tucking it. But, due to the miracle of television, we're going to set that down and go back to one that I've already bound together. And then just sliding it down in, letting the extra pieces hang out, finding the perfect spot, angling it, adjusting, and then adding water already filled with flower food. So it's premixed, tucking it in, setting it, and then adding water.


Using tulips to follow that same line with the curly willow, pulling off all their leaves so that it's totally clean, bringing it down. You don't need the really woody part. And then feeding it in, following the same line and tucking. And repeat that as you go along, adjust. And the beauty is tulips do really well submerged, so you don't have to worry about that. Just determine where you want them. They are going to continue to grow. So, you've got to adjust, then set them in, and repeat until you get that baseline set just the way you want it.


As you continue, you can add in additional stems of curly willow, just giving it a cut, and then sliding it in, following that same line to give you more movement coming outside the design. Just a few pieces. But, always following the same movement, finding the perfect spot, feeding it in, and then letting it drape. Then coming back, the beautiful Oncidium orchids, and they already have that gorgeous drape. So, then feeding it through, finding the perfect spot, and letting it curl around, adjusting, and then add in to get a little more fullness.


The amazing thing about florabundance.com is you get things that you never expect. When I place my order, I always say, "Add two or three things that will surprise me." And today they added poets jasmine, new to me, but look how beautiful if I just add this in and then wind it around and let it drape. Oh my gosh, so super fabulous. So, when you order with them, don't be afraid to say add one or two or three new surprises that you don't know what they are, but that they go, "Oh, you should have poets jasmine, because it changes the dynamic and makes it fabulous. And I wouldn't have known to order that.”


The recipe. I used five Tulips. Now I took the leaves off most, but there were a couple I left, because I wanted the green to show. The Oncidium, three stems coming out, giving that drape that's so fabulous. Curly Willow, I used one half of a bunch to make sure that I could wind it around to create the armature that I needed.Then the poet's Jasmine, three stems to just add that soft draping and the color. Oh, so fabulous.


When you're creating floral designs, sometimes you want to think about the art and do something a little edgier. You'll find many examples on the website flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But, now it's your turn. Find a vessel that stretches you. Gather beautiful flowers and create a design. Take a photo and post it on social media, #FloralDesignInstitute, that way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.

  • Floralife Quick Dip 100 - individual-one gallon jug
    Floralife Quick Dip 100 - individual-one gallon jug
  • Fresh Flower Food Individual Pack 5 pound pail
    Fresh Flower Food Individual Pack 5 pound pail
  • Bind Wire (Green)
    Bind Wire (Green)
  • Floralife Crowning Glory - 32 ounce spray bottle
    Floralife Crowning Glory - 32 ounce spray bottle
  • Crowning Glory Individual Pack One Gallon
    Crowning Glory Individual Pack One Gallon