Wildflower Hand-tied Bouquet

Video Transcription

The wildflower trend, oh, so popular. Little tricky for a professional florist as we search out professionally-grown flowers that will give us that wildflower look. And a hand tie? It's amazing. Let me show you how it's done.

The materials, choosing some weedy things. This is flax, a local product. It's only available in the summertime. Then chamomile also grown locally. It's available year-round, but summertime is when it's at its best. Then for a little bit of impact, Craspedia, some people call them billy balls, and the foliage, Italian ruscus. Now I started already by removing all the lower bits from the stems so that everything's going to be clean and tidy, and same with the foliage. You can save this for something else, but you want just a nice clean stem, and then the foliage at the top.

As I begin, gather a few things in your hand, maybe three bits of the Italian ruscus and then taking some of the chamomile, tucking it in so you get a nice base, pulling it together, and a bit of the flax. Sometimes I find it easier to lay it out on my table, that way I can capture it, and then let it turn and tucking, coming back with another of the chamomile. And this is where you start spiraling, letting the stems extend outward, giving that nice full diagonal placement. So each stem goes into your hand with the heads all going the same direction, but the stems slanting outward. And that's how you start a spiral, and you just keep adding, and then turning, and adding again, making sure that you're holding it with just a finger and a thumb, your fingers extended outward so that you get that nice loose movement, and keep turning, and adding until you get a full lush design.

As I continue, I keep looking to where things need to be so it stays balanced, turning and adding in, getting that movement, but always placing the heads going the same direction, stems radiating around. And then as I'm happy with the placement, then I can go back, and using the Craspedia, fit it in, creating a bit of an emphasis area, maybe grouping several of them together to add some impact to the design, pulling them together. I don't want to just spot them around. I want to make them have a bit of emphasis right towards the center that creates the excitement in the bouquet, gives your eye a resting point. Then go back and add in a few more stems, making sure I'm balanced, double-checking. Do I need a little bit more of the Italian ruscus? Maybe I want another billy ball. That Craspedia just adds so much beauty to the design, and then turning and tying it off with bind wire when I feel like everything's in place.

Tied off with bind wire, you can see all the stems are bare, and then all the beauty at the top. Let me just cut it down so I can set it into a vase. The recipe, I worked in tens today. 10 stems of the Italian Ruscus, 10 stems of the Craspedia, 10 stems of the Chamomile, and 10 stems of the local Flax, altogether gives you such a beautiful wildflower look.

The pop of yellow and white and the chamomile, that wildflower look, so fresh and wonderful for summertime. You'll find more creative inspiration on the website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Gather your favorite flowers. Create a hand-tied bouquet. Be sure to take a picture, post on social media and #FloralDesignInstitute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.