....I think she read the blog post about all the projects we are doing and felt guilty!!! LOL...she shouldn't feel guilty because I love doing projects with her!
She suggested that I use them with some of the stuff that is blooming in the Sweetwater Garden.....SO....To the Garden I went!
This is what is blooming in the Sweetwater Garden right now!
Hydrangeas....I told you there were about 7 total blooms....but hey 7 is something!
Lantana...there is orangey pink and yellow....
Dahlia....of the 6 that I planted only 2 of the plants are consistently blooming...go figure!
Gazania...these blooms look great....but that is because I took the picture before the bunnies ate them!
Mexican Sunflowers...wow...this is a new plant for me...I planted them from seeds I got as a gift....tall bushy plant with these great orange flowers.
Zinnias....I LOVE Zinnias....and mine are finally blooming....they last a long time in arrangements...
Begonia....such happy little blooms....
The new coral rose is finally blooming again.....I thought it was a goner....then I babied it along....success!
Bottom line....not many of these flowers would work in the rose arrangement....so I had to do some creative "picking"!
What did I find?
Artemesia....the white bushy stuff on the left in the photo....
One precious Sunflower from the 5 that the deer didn't munch on....
Hosta leaves....
A few Phlox....
Some Snapdragons that needed deadheading anyway...
A couple of branches of white mums....
The last of the daisies...
Some sedum that is just in the budding stage....
Now on to the promised Flower Arranging 101!!!
I know you should condition those flowers before you arrange them....
But that takes patience....I got no patience!!!
But you might want to do what I say and not what I do and use the link below to do it right!
I almost always use fresh floral foam as a base for an arrangement.
I buy it at Michaels in blocks of 4 for 5 bucks!
You gotta get some of this stuff!
The roses came with a packet of preservative....I dumped that in...
Somebody once told me you could use aspirin...but I have never tried it...
I also add just a couple of splashes of household bleach.
This keeps the bacteria from growing...seriously it works!
The Hosta leaves form a "frame" around the base of the container...
Then be sure to make a sharp diagonal cut in every stem....not just the roses....EVERY stem...
This gives a good fresh open bottom on the stem so the water can be absorbed.
I started by arranging the roses....all but a couple that I save to fill in any empty spots at the end!
Actually I could have stopped here....but you know me...NOT!
That Sunflower really takes a starring roll....Hope the roses don't feel overshadowed!
I finished it off with some artemesia and some eucalyptus that was in a container I got at Bonne Volonté last week...
Nice! Not bad for 6 bucks worth of roses....
The moral of this post....get yourself out there and pick some flowers...
It will make you happy!
PS....I wanted to show you this little arrangement!
WHY...you might ask?
Everything in there is something that needed deadheading....
The greens are peony leaves...
Some mums that needed pinching back so they keep blooming through the fall...
Snapdragons that are almost done...
Artemesia that is falling over because it is too leggy...
I bet you have some almost dead heads that you could use!
Have A Wonderful Day!
Love, love, love your arrangements!! I've always thought of getting the floral foam. Thanks for the idea. I love finding ways to make my flower last! I'm a new follower. It would be great if you could follow me back at http://lifeofblocks.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful! I found your site from the happygolucky.com Blog Hop and am now a follower. I just love flower arrangements but don't have the eye to create them like you obviously do, so I appreciate these tips. I hope you'll visit my blog at thedomesticatedprincess.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteOh, my, your florals are so beautiful! Thank you for the tips but I don't think I could ever make pretty like you can! :) Sweet daughter too!
ReplyDeleteBe a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
You visited me a little while ago...so now I'm visiting you back...and becoming a follower. Just love the flowers in you garden. I had a lot of flowers for cutting until I had an accident 4 years ago...now I mainly have weeds to arrange,,,don't get me wrong....some of them are better than the cultivated! I loved both your flower arrangements....if I'm truthful I think I preferred the last one! Joan
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, creative and affordable. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteI found you in the blog hop and I followed you via GFC. I hope you can check out my blog as well. It's at whyyyjen.blogspot.com :)
You might also like to join the Twitter link up! I aim for us to follow each other. Click here: http://whyyyjen.blogspot.com/2012/08/twitter-link-up.html
Love,
Jen
So beautiful. I love arranging flowers...just don't do it enough. Yours look so lovely.
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! Great tips, as well, I didn't know you could put a small amount of bleach in an arrangement. Visiting from the Bowdabra Blog link party.
ReplyDeleteSo cute!
ReplyDeletePlace the secondary materials evenly around the dominant materials. These smaller groups of flowers simply serve as an accent to the heart of your arrangement.
ReplyDeleteLove that Mexican sunflower! So pretty..! I would like have lots of that sunflowers in my garden..By the way,I dint know the use of bleach that way...I wll try by now..Great tips!
ReplyDelete