Just a quick post for a few of the readers who have emailed me asking about the arrangement featured earlier, here, for the Teen’s graduation day… So many folks seem intimidated by doing a floral arrangement themselves, when it is often very EASY to do, and you save some 60-80% of the cost of ordering it from a fancy shmancy florist. In this case, I wanted a huge, almost lobby like arrangement to place on top of a narra table.
I started of by selecting the base, an antique plant holder which might be 100+ years old, usually kept outdoors, but which I brought in for this purpose. Any large sturdy vessel will do. And think laterally, not just flower vases. You can use old trophies or bowls, pots and pans, old ceramic pots, glass punch bowls, baskets, etc. I always try and place the empty vessel in the intended location to get an idea about the scale of the arrangement. The vessel is roughly 15 inches high and 18 inches in diameter.
Line the base of the vessel in newspaper to absorb any odd leaks, then place a plastic/waterproof basin at the bottom and neatly stack 4 or more well-soaked pieces of floral foam or oasis. To pre-soak the oasis, float the bricks in a pail of water and let it sink on its own. NEVER force oasis into the water or you will get “air pockets” in the foam and your flowers won’t be thrilled to stick their stems into that.
Prior to this stage, I had “conditioned” 30 stems of white lilies by cutting 1 inch of the bottoms of the stems and plunging them immediately into a pail filled deep with fresh water and some flower food or preservative. Let the flowers drink water for several hours before you arrange them, to ensure they last as long as possible. then starting with tallest, sturdiest stem start your arrangement from the middle of the vessel and work your way out taking care to balance the arrangement nicely. I used a total of 30 stems (I could have gotten away with just 25) and it took a total of 10 minutes to do once I started with the flowers. Make sure to keep adding water to the oasis foam every day to ensure the stems can continue to drink up more water…
15 Responses
Looks very professional indeed!
MM, how about a recipe on those delicious looking flowers :)
very nice… u are a man with so many talents..hahaha
you really make it sound so simple and easy!! i feel encouraged to try it myself
Galing!!
Grabe! It’s gorgeous and love the vase or is it pot?
florist ka din pala sir? hehehe.. cute
MM, galing mo naman pati flower arrangements alam mo gawin…
Goegeous arrangement…
CONGRATS to the TEEN… and good luck to the prince that she will meet.. sana maka pasa sa butas ng karayom… hehehhee….
Congrats to the Teen. I love the way the lillies are presented.. I just arranged over 120 pieces of white roses for the boat…
Congratulations to the Teen!
May I ask where to get that flower food? My roses from Dangwa last ten days tops on daily changing of water with a drop of bleach and some sugar.
kelly, you can buy some flower shops, we buy in bulk when on trips to the U.S. But a drop of bleach and some sugar is almost JUST as good. Essentially, you want to inhibit bacteria growth in the water and I think the sugar is to provide some goodies for the flowers.
Hi MM,
Where do you get your flowers again? I am guessing that this pot smelled so heavenly as well :)
I got them at the wholesale outlet of King Louis flowers at the Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon City. The arrangement did smell incredible… in fact, by the next day, a bit overwhelming in a closed room!
just got some lilies for my bday as well. Made me blush. :)
Congrats to The Teen! Smooches, darling!
i usually put half a cup of chlorine in the pail where the foam will soak. it will act as “flower food” or preservative by killing the bacteria that feed on the nutrients in the flowers. if i use the water directly though, no floral foam, i just put a drop or two of chlorine.