Being able to arrange a beautiful bouquet of flowers yourself is such a useful and versatile skill. From pulling together arrangements for friends and family for special occasions, to simply brightening up a room or adding the finishing touch to a styled-up coffee table, a bright bunch of blooms fits the bill.
However, the skill itself is one many of us can’t quite master. Somehow, home attempts never produce the same luscious, foliage-heavy masterpieces that sit in the window of the local florist. But practice makes perfect, and all it takes to get the hang of floral arrangement is breaking down the process of building a bouquet into a few easy steps.
Step One: Find the perfect vase
As a general rule, the bigger the mouth of the vase, the more flowers and foliage you will need to fill it, and vice versa. Decide if you want a big, bushy bunch of flowers, or a few, well-placed stems in a minimal vessel. A fuller vase usually looks better and will work as a base if you’re building a bouquet to give away.
Step Two: Build your base
You will need a good base on which to build your bouquet. Try hardy foliage, native plants or tropical leaves in different textures and shades of green to give you a loose base of greenery ready to be decorated with blooms. This will ensure your bunch of flowers looks fuller, rather than sparse.
Step Three: Choose your flowers carefully
A trip to your local flower market will undoubtedly overwhelm you with a seemingly endless selection of flowers in different colours, shapes and sizes. Rather than choosing every flower that takes your fancy, decide on a colour palette (such as white, pink and burgundy) and buy flowers only in those colours, in different sizes and shapes.
Step Four: Select an accent foliage
Choose plants such as gumnuts, berries, cotton plants that will contrast well with your large green leaves of foliage and soft blooms of flowers. These varieties are great for adding the element of height and an unexpected contrast of texture to a bouquet.
Step Five: Arrange your flowers
Arranging flowers is similar to arranging objects attractively on a shelf or coffee table: the key is to group flowers and foliage of contrasting heights, colours and textures together throughout your arrangement. Use the foliage as a bit of a frame and have your boldest and brightest blooms radiating out from the centre of the arrangement.
This article originally appeared on Better Homes and Gardens.
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