Saturday, December 10, 2022

Holiday Flower Arranging

Bunny Williams

 
Looking for inspiration for floral arrangements for the holidays? Here are two great ideas with flowers easily found at the grocery store - white lilies and red roses.

White oriental lilies are a wonderful choice for holiday floral arrangements. They are readily available and are a very long lasting cut flower. Their fragrance and elegance makes them ideal. Did you know that lilies have been cultivated for 3,000 years, longer than any other ornamental flower?

Here's how to make them last a long time - 7 to 14 days.

Holding the lily stems under running water, cut about one inch off each stem at an angle with a sharp knife or shears.

Add a packet of flower food.

Remove the leaves that fall beneath the water line.

Lilies are thirsty flowers. Check to see that the vase is full and add fresh water as needed.

Clip off fading blooms. 

It's a good idea to remove the yellow anthers once the flower is fully opened. This prevents pollen from staining the petals and helps prolong the flower's bloom.

Add greens and berries for a Christmassy look. A large blue and white Chinese porcelain vase or ginger jar makes a perfect container. I love using large ginger jars for tall flowers like lilies.

Lilies are heavily scented and perfect for an entry table like this. The scent can be a bit too much for the dining table.


Southern Living

I love the red roses with red and green berries in the silver trophies. So elegant, and of course, red roses are easily found for floral arranging. I especially like vintage engraved silver trophies that can easily be found on places like eBay.

Some tips to get your roses to open/not droop/last. 

As soon as I get home I submerge the roses in a huge vase of warm water up to their necks for 30 minutes. Did you know that roses like warm, not cold water? About 70 degrees is perfect. 

While the roses are soaking, ready your display vase - a different one with warm water and floral preserver. Take one stem at a time and cut the stem to the desired length under warm running water at an angle and try to transfer to the display vase with water still clinging to the freshly cut stem end to avoid air bubbles in the stem. Florists do not have magical sources for their roses. The key is to prevent air bubbles from preventing them taking up water.

Have a wonderful weekend. The weather here is gorgeous - high seventies and sunny.





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