Poppy Delight
So soft and delicate, poppies are like the big showy hats you see at the Kentucky Derby -- so fabulous! They do like their water, however, much like hellebores and sweet peas. In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne designs these showy flowers very simply with a little curly willow in a foam-free design, letting the beauty of the blooms shine through. Enjoy!
Video Transcription
Poppies, hellebores, sweet peas. What could be better? Let me show you how to make a fabulous arrangement, foam-free of course.
The flowers, amazing. We have poppies, garden roses, sweet peas, and hellebores. Everything from florabundance.com, tied together with beautiful curly willow.
To begin, the curly willow. And it is springtime, so it's starting to bloom out, which is fabulous. And if you love curly willow, if you place it in water, it will root. Yes, you can grow your own curly willow. But for us, we don't want it rooted. So I'm just kind of pulling it together, lining it up in my hand, and then pulling it in to create an armature. Adjusting, there we go, leaving some out because I like that length. Bring it back. Anything that's going to be below the water, make sure you remove those leaves. Get exactly the placement you want. Go back and add, and then once it's all together, we'll tie it off with fine wire.
With the armature established, it's easy. Add water and place it. Now you're ready to add flowers, which is the easy part. Tucking in a poppy, giving it a cut, placing it in, adding in a bit of hellebore, letting it trail outward. Notice how the green of the leaves of the curly willow coordinate in. Bring in a sweet pea. Just keep adding until everything is where you want it. Adjust the stems. There we go. That one's a little better. And fill until it's beautiful.
One issue with amazing spring flowers is they have a short life. They're so beautiful, they're so fabulous. But when you deliver a design, if you can add something to add a longer life, greater customer satisfaction. With these beautiful roses, it's a Tip-Top garden rose from Garden Roses Direct. Open it out, give it a little fluff, and then cut it. Place it low underneath the poppies. That way when the poppies fade, the rose has bloomed out and gives you so much longer life. That gives you customer satisfaction.
The recipe started with a base armature of Curly Willow, then added amazing flowers from florabundance.com. We have three stems of the Hellebore, three stems of the Icelandic Poppy. Aren't they gorgeous? Three stems of Sweet Peas, and then three of the Tip-Top Garden Rose from gardenrosesdirect.com. Together, a beautiful spring bouquet.
Spring flowers, some of my absolute favorite. And depending on where you are, spring can go for many months. You'll find more spring inspiration on our website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Gather your favorite spring blooms, create a beautiful arrangement, and post it on social media. Be sure to #FloralDesignInstitute so I can see, and we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
