Words by Catherine Zachariou. Article from the Garden and Home Magazine September 2015.
This is the best time of the year for flowers, whether you’re picking them from your garden or buying them at the local market. Catherine Zachariou shows you three easy ways to display them
Country fresh
Loosely arranged flowers rake on a romantic air in a ceramic jug. Start with taller flowers like stocks, delphiniums and snapdragons to add structure and height. For weight, add clusters of delicate Queen Anne’s Lace, which splay outwards from the lower and upper half. To complete the look, you can fill the gaps with small flowers like wild daisies. I love how the bright spring shades of blue and yellow are offset by the soft greens of the Queen Anne’s Lace.
Time for tea
For the perfect accompaniment to a tea party, cluster white garden roses in a vintage teapot and use lavender blooms for a dash of colour. Instead of roses you can use peonies or lisianthus, and fragrant herbs like rosemary or thyme make a good substitute for the lavender. When prepping your roses, remove discoloured petals from the outer edge of the flower and any foliage which falls below the waterline. To make it last longer, keep this arrangement in a cool spot.
Make it Last
• Replace the water every few days.
• Add a crushed Disprin tablet to the water beforehand.
• Remove any foliage that will fall below the waterline.
• Use a sharp knife to trim the stems at an angle. For best results, cut them under water to prevent air from entering the stems.
• Buy the freshest flowers possible. Steer clear of those that are weeping, have discoloured petals or are opened fully.
• Remove dead flowers from the arrangement and replace them or rearrange the remaining ones in a smaller vase.
In blue and white
Blue and white china is bang on trend, so dust off your collectables and pair them with brightly coloured blooms. For this dome-shaped arrangement, I used pink and white carnations and trimmed the stems quite short so the blossoms peek over the edge of the vase. To establish the dome shape, arrange the flowers in your hand and secure the stems with floral tape, then place them in the vase. The fluffy petals create a lush fullness, so make sure there are no large gaps between the flowers to ruin the effect. To keep carnations looking fresh, don’t put them near fruit or vegetables as they produce a natural gas called ethylene which causes the petals to wilt prematurely. Short, round vessels suit compact arrangements like this.
Sources: Catherine Zachariou Cat’s Eyes Wedding Planning Moondrops Flowers
