Creating Floral Designs for March

During my career as a florist, I have worked with many other florists across the country.  Without fail most of us share one thing in common…an excitement for new varieties of flowers, or new colors in our old favorites!

Since March brings us spring and St. Patrick’s Day, it seems totally appropriate to show off new varieties of naturally green flowers used in green containers.  For flowers I have chosen green hydrangeas, green button chrysanthemums, and pale green roses.  The pale green roses are the variety “Green Fashion.”  The hydrangeas and chrysanthemums unfortunately were not labeled with variety names.  Knowing variety names can be helpful if you find a favorite that is really a good match for your home décor.

Now my challenge is to choose the right container to best show off each floral design.  So…for containers I have chosen a 9” tall lime green ceramic cylinder that is 5” in diameter; a short pale green crackled ceramic pot that is 5.5” tall and is also 5.5” in diameter; and a deep green ceramic teapot that is 8.5” in diameter.

To create a tall green floral arrangement, I will use the lime green ceramic cylinder.  The cylinder will not need a liner because the inside is totally glazed, and therefore will not leak.  There is also no need for floral foam because the narrow diameter of the cylinder is a perfect match for holding the stems in place.  I started with about 7 stems of tall mums, leaving the stems long.  I then added 4 green hydrangeas at the base of the arrangement.  The long stems form a sort of natural grid inside the cylinder.  This natural grid is perfect for holding the hydrangeas in place!  The finished height of the design is 19”.

The next design will need floral foam, because the container is a cache pot with a hole in the bottom.  It is really meant to hold a living plant which would need drainage.  However, I am in luck, because a plastic deli container just fits the opening of the pot and will hold enough floral foam to create a design!  For this design, I used 4 hydrangeas, 4 roses, and 2 stems of button mums.  The finished height is 8.25” and is also 8.25” in diameter.

The third design is made in a teapot and holds water so it also does not need floral foam. For this design, I used 3 hydrangeas, and 5 roses.  The teapot is also 8.5” from the tip of its spout to the outside of its handle.  The finished design is also 8.5”.

I hope you will have a nice cup of tea in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and try your hand at a green floral design or two.

by Evelyn Kinville, Behnke’s Garden Blogger