Few sentimental expressions are more tried-and-true for Mother’s Day than the rose bouquet.
But the do-it-yourself florist can save money and impart an original statement by applying green thumbs to a homemade floral arrangement.
“You don’t have to be an expert arranger,” says Hollywood retailer-turned-Gen X domestic diva Katie Brown. This PBS show host says the earthy look of the latest floral design trends is a bonus for anyone doing their own flowers for Mom.
“Flower arranging has become so much more organic and beautiful and closer to nature” than it used to be, Brown says. “You don’t see that many traditional centerpieces anymore. It’s a long table runner or a tablescape.”
That means nontraditional floral materials like garden flowers or twigs from the yard are turning up in today’s stylish arrangements.
“You’ll see arrangements now out of a bunch of leaves, which is beautiful,” she says. Or sometimes, the leaves line the bottom of the vase, which is very sculptural.”
Oasis Floral Foam is a life-saver for do-it-yourselfers, Brown adds. She likes to line a pretty, hard-covered box with plastic, and fill it with Oasis foam that’s been soaked in water overnight. Then, Brown arranges short-clipped roses in a heart shape in the foam and fills the background in with moss. She also likes to experiment with mixing tropical flowers like calla lilies with herbs, succulents or carnations.
“Just one succulent floating in a vase is really beautiful,” she says. “I also love to take houseplants and put them in vases like flowers.”
Planted container gardens, window boxes or patio fountains filled with water foliage are other floral gifts Mom can show off for their charm and originality. The more original the vase or container, the better.
One of the easiest floral statements for the do-it-yourselfer is to choose one flower and use it in abundance. Tulips cascading from tall urns, roses bundled up tightly in glass globes, daisies, sunflowers and hydrangeas all work better together than alone. What’s more, learning such easy floral design techniques as wiring and wrapping stems often inspires any number of original ideas, according to “Flower Arranging for the First Time” (Sterling/Chapelle, $12.95).
Denver florist Arthur Williams favors unexpected flower combinations like tropical blossoms mixed with spring staples like tulips.
“I’m seeing a lot of compact textural arrangements,” says this member of the Colorado Retail Florists Association and owner of Babylon Floral Design at 1201 E. Colfax Ave. Williams looks to shelter magazines for his design ideas. One of his favorite recent floral trends has been encasing a single, submerged cymbidium orchid in a glass vase.
“It’s for someone who’s really modern,” he says. “It’s really good for parties, too.”
The ever-sunny Gerber daisy also does well floating inside a short, stout glass vase.
Williams offers this tip for amateur florists: Steer clear of grocery store and big-box flowers because they are more likely to have come into contact with produce, which produces enzymes that speed up the deterioration of fresh blooms. “It’s much safer for a consumer to buy flowers that have been stored at the appropriate temperature away from fruits and veggies,” he says.
Local independent florists also advise consumers to avoid flower wire services because much of the cost of these arrangements goes toward administration fees instead of flowers. Online-only florists also tend to produce arrangements out-of-state and ship them to the recipients instead of relying on local growers.
Find local florists through websites like floristdetective.com.
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-954-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
