I adore flowers. And yet, until recently, I rarely had them in the house.
Florists' arrangements seemed too elaborate, an extravagance I wouldn't permit myself: even the thought of walking into a flower shop was intimidating. Supermarket flowers, though affordable, were hard to love through all that cellophane.
My thinking has changed. For one thing, I've learned from florists that professional arrangements can be beautiful without being complicated or expensive, that it's OK to tell them you're on a budget, and that they don't mind if you supply your own vase. I've learned also that flowers don't necessarily have to go in vases -- but more on that in a minute.
Informative YouTube videos on how to create your own arrangements have taken much of the mystery out of the process. And a new generation of accessible and appealing decor books can inspire even the clumsiest among us to try our hand at arranging flowers and, more important, to trust our instincts and go where our imagination leads us.
"Flowers are chic and beautiful on their own," advises author Carlos Mota, Elle Decor editor-at-large and author of the wonderful new book Flowers Chic & Cheap: Arrangements with Flowers from the Market or Backyard (Clarkson Potter, $29.95).
"Don't fuss with them. Don't be scared of them. After all, a glass of water with a single peony is as beautiful, and maybe even more so, than a tortured vase of 10."
And after all, we can all do way better than plunking a store-bought bouquet directly into a vase, where the tight, upright chunk of flowers resembles a guy on a blind date, as Ellen and Julia Lupton observe in Design Your Life (St. Martin's Griffin, 2009).
Better to cut the stems short and arrange the flowers in a low, widemouthed vase, they suggest. Mota goes one better: Deconstruct these boring mishmash bouquets entirely and create something elegant. Separate flowers first by type and colour, he advises, to have an idea of what you have to play with.
He took chrysanthemums and pom poms from a couple of those store-bought bouquets, for instance, because their shapes were similar, then tied them together and cut the stems to make a small, tight bouquet he popped into a small metal bucket. Adorable.
The remaining single stems, he suggests, can be set into bud vases: Even the baby's breath can look delicate and pretty in small laboratory-style glass flasks on a dressing table.
And flowers aren't just for dinner parties. "How nice is it to see flowers by your bed when you wake up?" Mota asks. "Or for them to greet you at the end of a bad day at work?"
Arrangements of a single kind of flower generally give the biggest bang for your buck, said florist Erin Minnett. "Spray, or branch, roses have a few blooms per stem and cost only $4 a stem. That way, you need just five or six stems to have an impact," she explained as she arranged them in glass vases of differing heights and shapes. Loose petals at the base of the grouping, which can be in a cluster or a line, add to the ambience.
Other affordable suggestions from Minnett: Choose three hydrangea stems (about $5 each) and place them in three containers of different heights and shapes. Using differing heights gives the arrangement more movement: the effect is nice.
Gerbera daisies were $3.50 each: Looking at three, cut low and nestled against each other, it was impossible not to smile. A cymbidium orchid floating in a small fishbowl with river rocks set into it was simply beautiful. A pepper plant costs $5 or $6 and lasts for weeks.
People ridicule carnations but, as Minnett observed, they don't have to look ugly just because they're carnations: They don't have to be Pepto-Bismol pink, with ugly baby's breath. And they'll easily last two weeks.
Using 18 red carnations and 18 green pom poms, Mota created an adorable, ruffled arrangement in a coffee mug. He started by cutting the carnations to the height of the mug; next, he placed a single layer around the rim of the mug, then added a second, inner layer by resting the flowers on the first, then continued to layer until he'd made a dome of flowers, with the effect of one large ruffle. He then added the pom poms, in random groups.
Arrangements needn't be large: A small number of flowers can go a long way. There is nothing more divine than four or five lilies in either bud or small vases displayed throughout the house, according to Mota.
Use bud vases, which hold a single flower, in an assortment of colours, forms and heights. Vibrant colours and simple shapes look beautiful pretty much anywhere, whether you use one, two or 10.
Flowers don't have to go in vases: Think tin cans or pewter pitchers, empty Perrier bottles or even the soup tureen that -- admit it, now -- you hardly ever use for soup. Minnett loves the shabby chic vibe of flowers in vintage teapots.
If you have a collection of decanters, fill each halfway with water, then add a single stem -- say a delphinium, or maybe a Japanese maple branch -- and set them in a line down the centre of the dining-room table, suggested stylist Eddie Ross.
"I like to use things I have in the house as containers", he said. "Think pitchers, creamers, sugar bowls, and all those old beautiful cake and jelly moulds: I think that's the thing that creates the most beautiful arrangement -- when it's not in a typical vase; it's all about the container, and it doesn't have to be specifically for flowers."
Florist Robert Pettigrew placed a single green Shamrock chrysanthemum in a rough-hewed teak bowl, creating a simple, Zen-like effect.
"You can find containers anywhere -- even Reno-Depot,' he said. "And you can put anything in them -- even a branch you found while you were out walking... you don't need a lot: You need a container and for it all to have a bit of movement."
Flower arrangements, then, needn't feature flowers alone. Think branches and greenery, stones, seashells and seasonal produce: Gourds, for instance, are nice this time of year, and branches. Ornamental cabbages, now available in markets, are fun.
"I think flower arranging comes with practice," said Ross, a former Martha Stewart Living editor with a gift for making the ordinary extraordinary, as he illustrates with the daily blog he produces (eddieross.com) with partner Jaithan Kochar on decorating and entertaining beautifully -- and affordably.
Ross learned about cutting and arranging flowers from his grandfather, a longtime horticulturist on a Connecticut estate. "Just play until you get something you like. Don't be afraid.
Begin with inexpensive flowers -- carnations, daisies or mums are nice -- and work out arrangements you like," he advised.
These flowers can be found easily at places like Costco: Nothing wrong with flowers from the grocery store, said Pettigrew, as long as they're fresh.
"The one thing I want to stress is that I think flowers are not just for a special occasion," Ross added. "We always have flowers in the house."
Check out the pages of any shelter or decor magazine: The rooms nearly always have flowers in them, often simple arrangements of widely available flowers like tulips, say, or lilies. Sometimes they highlight a feature of the room -- a painting, say, or a pillow. Always, they make a room look more inviting.
Make sure to have the right tools, Ross said: "Floral shears, floral tape and floral foam, that green spongy material we find stuffed inside flower arrangements, to support the stems. Find the foam at nurseries or ask a florist to sell you a block."
If you're using a clear glass vase, a large leaf lining will hide the stems, Ross suggested. It's an instant way to create a professional-looking flower arrangement.
-- Postmedia News
