Flower Arrangement Guide

Flowers have a curious magical power over people. Not only do they add to our present but are also linked to our past. Dried flowers, in this respect, are an important part of our lives.

To dry fresh flowers, you can either freeze-dry them or air-dry them by hanging them upside down, or you can use silica gel. You could also place flowers in the microwave.

To make a dried flower arrangement, place your vase on a lazy Susan, stick the base of the vase with floral clay and fix a piece of foam into your vase. With lepidium, lavender, and straw give an overall shape to your arrangement. Now, fill in the center with flax, galax leaves, maidenhair fern, or foliage. Place flowers in descending order of size—begin with large flowers such as hydrangea, and then move on to medium sized flowers, spacing them evenly. For better effect, add larkspur, delphinium, or dried flax.

To make a dried floral bouquet, you should first imagine a triangular floral arrangement with a flat back. Use enough materials to make an arrangement 1.5 times the size of the vase. Begin by using twigs, ferns, long seed heads and spiked flowers. For depth, use longer pieces such as larkspur at the back of the arrangement.

Now, add filling material, say tansy, statice or hortensia, reaching half the height of the twigs and ferns. For greater appeal, place the most attractive flowers with the main colors of the arrangement in the center of the arrangement.

Take care to see that the arrangement is in a fine balance—neither too heavy on one side nor too weak on the other. While maintaining the basic shape of the arrangement, keep putting in flowers and heighten its effect with grasses and seed heads.

There’s nothing like having a vase of fresh flowers at home every day. It can add a touch of elegance to your room and make you feel good. But if you must have flowers at home but can’t bear their cost, add a few fresh flowers to a range of plastic or silk flowers without frayed edges that look realistic. In the winter, add a little potpourri oil to the foam at the base of the vase and inhale the perfume of fresh flowers.

To make this type of arrangement yourself, you will need a pair of pliers to bend wire, a pair of wire cutters to cut stems, tape, wire, and foam, and floral tape.

Choose a wide container—a vase, basket, or bowl. Now, choose a holder to match the color of the room in which you wish to place it. Next, choose flowers proportionate to each other so that they blend with your blooms. Mingle together roses, chrysanthemums, peonies, lilies, carnations, and poppies. Intersperse ferns, eucalyptus, or ivy among the flowers.

Your flowers might tip over and fall, but don’t panic. Continue until your vase has a good mix of blooms. Now, half fill your vase with glass marbles matching the color of your arrangement. If you have chosen a basket, place green foam at the bottom to hold your flowers from falling over.

Get all the stems to a uniform length with wire cutters. If you have chosen to do a basket, fill the bottom of the basket with the green foam to keep the stems in place. Lastly, add a beautiful bow or ribbon to the handle of the basket.

Use a feather duster to dust your arrangement once a week. Alternatively, you invest in commercial spray cleaners.