Friday, March 20, 2015

Tutorial for a Spring Bouquet

 Can you feel it?  Spring is just around the corner!
 
 
 Daffodils are brightening the landscape across our area!  I love these harbingers of Spring and thought you might enjoy seeing how I arrange them in bouquets.
 

With my empty vase and sidewalk just beginning to show signs of Spring,


my trusty assistant and I begin!  ;-)
 
Kati Cat
 
 When arranging balanced, traditional, bouquets, I've been taught to think in thirds.  Since the jonquil family can have floppy stems, I like to use a bit of tape.  I place the tape so that it divides the vase into three parts.  This happens to be very narrow, clear floral tape, but just about any narrow tape would work.
 

We're going to do that again. Cross two more tape strips evenly over the first ones, creating a nice little tic tac toe board!  ;-)  It's time to start cutting the greenery!


A total favorite for my arrangements is, of all things, gooseberry stems.  I bet you didn't see that choice coming.  I planted a Gooseberry Bush along my sidewalk completely by mistake, thinking it was something else.  It was a gift from a friend's garden.  Even though it has been moved numerous times, that stubborn gooseberry is still along the sidewalk.  I am constantly trimming it back, and so, it lands in bouquets.  Keep that in mind if you ever plant a Gooseberry.  Make sure it is placed where you want it to be FOR EV ER.  'Just sayin'.


Place the greenery in every third slot crossing the stems.


Do it again.  Can you see the grid forming in the bottom?


Keep placing them around the vase in every third slot until a stem will stand straight up for you in the middle.  You might notice the center stem is Yaupon Holly.  It needed a hair cut, too!  ;-)  Use plants that are ready for a trim and you complete a chore while you decorate your home!  It's all about multi tasking, Girls!  ;-)


I want this bouquet to be mostly daffodils, so some might say I am being a bit stingy with the greenery, but, of course, that is completely subjective to the look of each arrangement.  Now for the fun part!  The flowers!


Just like we began with the gooseberry branches, place the daffodils in every third slot crossing the stems at first.  Continue with that nice grid in the bottom of the vase, working from the outside in.  As you fill the center of the bouquet, the  stems will be more upright.  All those crossed stems will make that happen for you!  Keep placing flowers at heights you prefer until you have the fullness you like.  In a traditional arrangement, the flowers will be no taller than two times the height of the vase.  Again, think in thirds to get balanced proportions.


I really don't have anything blooming right now that I wanted for filler, so I just tucked in some unopened daffodil blooms for a bit of texture.  Here is my finished bouquet near some bunnies and a pot of violas.
 
 

  Kati is happy with the results and so am I! 

Hopefully, this little tutorial will give you an idea or two for creating something lovely in your home!  What harbingers of Spring do you love the most?
 
;-)  -Marci

18 comments:

  1. Beautiful and clever :) I will have to remember this idea for the next time I arrange my flowers.

    Happy Spring, my friend!

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  2. Well... you make that looks so simple!
    Now- I can do this NEXT FEBRUARY... our daffodils have faded already. :(
    Yours are so pretty!

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  3. These are so pretty. Thanks for sharing your flowers.

    Linda

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  4. That's a great technique. I could have used it for my daffodil bouquet in an old coffee pot. I didn't have a vase up at the cabin. - Margy

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  5. A beautiful bouquet of some spring flowers. I am so looking forward to seeing some in a few weeks.
    Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  6. The flowers are beautiful, but since there is snow on the ground today it doesn't feel like spring is coming.

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  7. Your bouquet is beautiful but I had to chuckle about your gooseberry bush! I've been wanting one (two) for some time now and will keep your advice in mind!! Do you get berries from it? My mom always said you had to have two. You're daffodils are just a little ahead of mine. Your bouquet sings spring!!

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  8. How beautiful! I have some daffodils in my kitchen right now. I really need to plant more, they are so beautiful and a great first sign of spring.

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  9. Hi there! Stopping by from Wake Up Wednesday. Very pretty arrangement! I wish I had those daffodils to arrange! Super cute assistant, by the way. :)

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  10. Hi Marci! I am so glad you shared this wonderful post with Roses of Inspiration :) Happy day, my friend!

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  11. I can't tell from the picture, did you remove the tape when you were done?
    Thanks for the instruction on this. I never knew that trick before of getting a bouquet to stand up with tape.

    My favorite harbingers of spring are flowers of various sorts. We don't see very many jonquils in this part of Texas, but I've always loved them in other places I've lived. I like dandelions too because they are often early bloomers, sometimes ahead of everything else. Red bud trees are also very early blooming in these parts. :-)

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    1. Great question! The tape actually stays in place. Since it is clear and narrow, it's not noticeable once the vase is full. Red bud trees are so pretty! I love them! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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  12. Thank you for the great tutorial. I really like it.

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  13. What a great trick!! I really need to start planting flowers in my garden, instead of just veggies. Such a cheerful welcome to spring! Thanks again for joining us for Idea Box link party. Can't wait to see what bright ideas you bring us this week!

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  14. Good morning, my dear! I just wanted to let you know that this sweet post was featured at Roses of Inpsiration today :) Thanks for joining the party last week. Hugs and blessings!

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  15. What a gorgeous spring bouquet and such a great idea...I'm going to do this with my next bunch of flowers!

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  16. Great idea! These are absolutely lovely!

    Thanks for linking up with Green Thumb Thursday! I hope you'll join us again this week!

    ~Lisa

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