Summer Tuscan Pitcher
Bring the warmth of Tuscany into your home with this vibrant floral design! In this Flower School How-To Video, Leanne transforms a beautiful Italian-inspired pitcher into a cheerful arrangement overflowing with poppies, hydrangea, asclepias, and other seasonal blooms. Rich color, fresh flowers, and a touch of Mediterranean charm make this design the perfect inspiration for summer decorating, entertaining, or simply brightening your day.
Video Transcription
Inspired by the fabulous colors of Tuscany, creating a beautiful pitcher design perfect for any summer occasion. Let me show you how it's done.
The colors of Tuscany are so wonderful for the summertime. So many beautiful flowers. We'll be using poppies, dahlias, asclepias, echinacea, and monarda. Look at those colors. So amazing. And then, pairing it with eryngium and hydrangea. For the foliage, just one. I know. Leanne's rule of three, not happening today, just variegated pittosporum.
To begin, you start with your variegated pittosporum, giving it a cut, very woody. So, you want to be careful setting it in. If it's easier, you could use a clipper, but then, I still like to scrape it with the knife to make sure that it's going to hold well and drink. Then, adding in the heavier flowers, hydrangea, tucking it, and repeating. And then, coming back also with the eryngium and setting it in. So, you have a wonderful blue base creating a nest. Think basic fall design 101. That nest will support everything else.
With the blue base started, down going to the vivid colors, the asclepias, tucking it in. That blue and orange just vibrates. Then, coming back, adding in the monarda. So beautiful. Adding even more vibrancy, finding the perfect hole to set it. The echinacea, angling through. That nest supports it perfectly. And the dahlias, tucking in, letting it come out. And then, repeat, going through that central binding point and radiating all the way around.
To finish, I'm going to sneak in carnation. I know. I didn't show you that earlier, but the little bit of yellow peachy picks up the colors in the picture, and just tucking that in. I know, carnations. You think, really? No, it's seasonal. But carnations are beautiful and so long-lasting, and they give you that color that finishes it off. Then, adding in just a bit of lightness, the poppies, that's our last step because they dance over the top, giving you a little bit of soft movement to finish the design.
The recipe, I started with two stems of Variegated Pittosporum and that created the nest. Then, I filled in, three stems of Hydrangea, that beautiful blue, four stems of Eryngium to bring the blue upwards. Then, added the beautiful Tuscan colors, Asclepias, three stems. Echinacea, seven stems. The Monarda, seven stems. Dahlias, just three. And then, the Poppies, added in six more stems to finish it off.
This pitcher, it's one I use at home all the time, and now, I get to share it with you. Were you paying attention to the recipe and the video? If so, you know that I added three carnations and did not include that in the recipe. That's your challenge. From here on out, check out all the videos on flowerschool.com. Where did Leanne make a mistake? How fun is that? But now, it's your turn. Create a beautiful design using the Tuscan colors. Take a picture, post it on social media, and #FloralDesignInstitute. That way, we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
