Guest Blogger: 10 Tips to Awaken your Home with Gorgeous Floral Arrangements

Guest Blog #104, Entry #566, June 24, 2011

Summer officially started on June 21st, and what better way to bring the warmth into your home, than with fresh cut flowers? Today, my Guest Blogger gives tips for flower arranging and making your home have warmth, fragrance, and beautiful aesthetics with the addition of fresh flowers! With Stagetecture’s most recent addition of weddings, I thought flowers naturally have to follow.

Bright flowers can brighten up any table

Image courtesy of Bella Grace Floral

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1 – Choose the right foam for your flowers.

Generally, green foam retains water, so is perfect for fresh flowers with foliage. The brown, stiffer foam is for artificial and dried flowers.

2 – Soak your green foam in a bucket or basin.

When running the tap over foam, dry spots can be left in the foam, which can cause your flowers to wilt and die prematurely. By soaking your floral foam in water, it can become saturated and no dry spots will be left. Let it float in the water for 20 seconds or so, so it can absorb the water naturally. Don’t over soak your foam by submerging it forcefully, as this can cause it to break.

3 – Cut your foam to be slightly taller than the container it is going in.

This allows you to arrange the flowers/stems at all angles, instead of only straight up. The foliage will cover the foam, keeping it aesthetically pleasing.

4 – Water the foam daily,

..as if you were watering fresh flowers in a vase without foam.

Follow these tips for gorgeous floral arranging

Image courtesy of Colonial Designs

5 – When inserting the stems and stalks in to the foam

…make sure that there is no air space between the bottom of the stem and the hole created for the stem by pushing it in, as this can cause it to wilt due to a lack of ability to uptake water.

6 – Add a v-shaped notch in to the foam before putting it in the container.

This will allow space for water to be poured in to the container without spilling over the edges of the container, which can be a problem if you fill your container to capacity.

7 – Never re-use foam,

…as it will have numerous holes from previous arrangements, meaning new stems may hit air pockets and struggle to pick up water.

See how flowers can be displayed in numerous ways

Image courtesy of One Sydney Road

8 – If you have soaked too much foam for your arrangement, keep it in a plastic bag until you need it for another arrangement.

Once foam has fully dried out, it can be very difficult to re-soak it effectively.

9 – To maximize the health and life of your flowers,

…always use a clean container/vase, previously unused foam, and fresh water.

10 – Don’t place your finished arrangement in a draughty area, in direct sunlight, or over a radiator.

All of these can cause rapid water loss from your flowers, causing them to wilt quickly.

Kate Healy runs Rhubarb and Roses, a Buckinghamshire based Floral Design and Gardening School.

If you’re interested in being a Guest Blogger on Stagetecture, click here.