If You're Going To Do It, Do It Right!

Designer Tips for those of you who want more than mediocre flowers available from most vendors. Hope it helps!

1.) Choose your colors carefully. If you look at a color wheel, your colors should either be adjacent to each other; or if using two colors, on opposite ends of the color wheel; or if you're using three colors, your colors should form a equilateral triangle when you're looking at the color wheel.











2.) Choose your container carefully. Please be creative, use a bowl, a mug, a teapot, but please, please, please, don't limit yourself to those generic glass vases. Be creative, and take some risks! You are sure to have something at your house that will work wonderfully!

3.) If you're using floral foam, don't hold it under the tap or forcibly submerge it under water! You must fill a vessel with water and float the foam on it in order to ensure that there are no air pockets. I know, I know, this is a total pain, and even I must admit to wanting to cut corner here. But, please don't, it will really make a significant difference to the longevity of your flowers. Also, if you're going to add floral preservative, please dissolve it in the water prior to soaking the foam.

4.) Make sure you have adequate foliage. You're always going to need more than you think! No need to run out and spend money here, simply scan your back yard and see if there's anything that you can use. Remember, you want the foliage to look good with your color palate!

5.) Pick the shape of your arrangement, i.e., tall, round, oval, eclipse, asymmetrical, etc., and green in your foliage to give a rough outline of that shape. The tallest peak of your flowers should be at least the same height of the container, if not more.

6.) Now you can start placing your flowers. Use a sharp knife, like a swiss army knife and cut your flowers at an angle so that they can take up more water.

7.) Very important--put larger headed flowers lower in the arrangement, and smaller headed flowers higher in the arrangement.

8.) Also very important--put darker flowers lower in the arrangement, and lighter flowers higher in the arrangement.

I hope your inner designer shines! Best of luck!