Flowers + Plants 101
Recipe 6: Lush Romantic
Thursday, August 17, 2017
I don’t care how “basic” it is… there’s just something about peonies that makes me giddy! The ingredients for this bouquet were so stunning, I almost didn’t want to touch them in fear that I would somehow screw up and steal their beauty. This arrangement ended up being really fun to make, and the results were incredibly rewarding!
First things first: Stop to admire your ingredients I mean… really?! These peonies were legitimately as big as my head, the pink roses were so bold and fragrant, and the garden roses are quickly climbing the ranks to becoming one of my very favorite blooms.
Here’s what you’ll need for the Lush Romantic Bouquet: * 1 bunch of hot pink roses (12-16 stems) * 1 bunch of coral or pink peonies * 1 bunch of pink garden roses (5-6 stems) * 1 bunch of ruscus or lemon leaves* * Thick green floral tape * Small cylinder vase
*I actually didn’t use the lemon leaves and simply stuck a few of the extra leaves from the rose stems into the bouquet when it was finished.
Step 1: Prepare your stems As per usual, prepare your flowers by removing any leaves that will fall below the waterline in your vase, then cut each stem between 8″ to 9″ long. Separate each flower by type for easy arranging!
Step 2: Spiral! Spiral away! Starting with the regular roses, begin spiraling all of the flowers, alternating types as you go. Pay attention to the overall shape of your bouquet. A good way to do this is by holding it out in front of you to make sure you’re achieving the desired dome shape! Once you have a nice, full bouquet (which isn’t hard to do with these blooms!), it’s time to move on to the next step.
We’re nearing the end of the Spiraling section in The Flower Chef, and I’m not going to lie… I’m a little bit nervous to start learning a new trick! This method has been my go-to with my monthly BloomsyBox deliveries as well as when I pick up any farmer’s market flowers on the weekends. It makes every arrangement look so polished and professional, and I’ve actually gotten quite quick at it from all this practice! (Thanks, Carly!)
Step 3: Secure your arrangement I used a rubber band rather than the floral tape for this one, because I knew I would be displaying this arrangement in a solid vase rather than as a bouquet or in a glass vase. If you are using this arrangement as a more decorative piece for an event, using thick green floral tape and wrapping the stems in ribbon with a corsage pin is always a safe bet!
Step 4: Add some greenery If you’re following the recipe from The Flower Chef exactly, this step would actually come in before you secure your arrangement. Since I substituted the extra rose leaves in place of lemon leaves, I simply added them into the bouquet after I was finished building it. I wasn’t sure if the greenery would take away from the lush beauty of this arrangement, but it definitely added a little bit of “oomph” to the already stunning blooms!
I can’t even find the words to describe how beautiful this bouquet was in person. I’m already looking forward to recreating it when peony season rolls around again!
What is your favorite flower? Leave a comment below and we just might feature it in an arrangement tutorial soon!
I can’t even find the words to describe how beautiful this bouquet was in person. I’m already looking forward to recreating it when peony season rolls around again!
