Tue, Jul 21, 20
Welcome to your Box of Blooms
July 21, 2020
Greetings flower lovers!! You've just received your Belle Fleur Box of Blooms and it's time to bring Summer into your home and start channeling your inner floral designer. In this week's segment, noted floral designer Meredith Waga Perez, owner and Creative Director of acclaimed floral & event design boutique, Belle Fleur, will walk you through a step-by-step process on how to clean and condition the stunning flowers that have landed on your doorstep, directly from Holland. She'll also guide you on how to design and create beautiful arrangements with these blossoms, ensuring your home will look and feel amazing.
Conditioning & Designing Delphinium
Conditioning & Designing Delphinium
Delphinium is a long-stemmed flower with dozens of flower buds attached to each stem. This Dewi Boy Blue Delphinium is powdery blue and very pretty.
When conditioning your Delphinium, we like to take off most all of the leaves to allow for more direct hydration to the flower buds. Make sure you clip your stem by about one inch (on an angle) and drop into into cold water immediately.
When selecting your vase, do a mock height test to ensure it's either tall enough or that you know how much stem you will need to trim off for a good fit. Don't trim too high up the stem though, you want to leave enough for a dramatic effect.
A loosely arranged bunch is usually the best practice. This will give you drama and impact when you place it in a prominent location. To make it last as long as possible, be sure to change out the water for fresh water every day.
Conditioning & Designing Lisianthus
Conditioning & Designing Lisianthus
The Purple Botanic Lisianthus is conditioned like any lisianthus, no matter the color. It's a bit more free wheeling and natural than most flowers but still looks beautiful, especially in this shade of purple.
The natural, somewhat wild look of the Lisianthus will make for a lush arrangement. Be sure to trim the stems by about an inch or two and drop into cold water immediately.
The Lisianthus takes a bit more work. We suggest removing most of the leaves from the stems. When trimming, you may create multiple stems but save the smaller ones for bud vases.
Once all stems are conditioned, we like to transfer the bunch to a finishing vase. Be sure to size out your vase and retrim to stem accordingly, The end result will be a natural look as though they were just picked from your garden.
Conditioning & Designing Freesia
Conditioning & Designing Freesia
White Double Freesia comes in a single, beautiful 50 stem bundle and the first thing you'll notice is the fresh, floral aroma. These will require a bit more work than Calla Lilies or Arabicum before you can design, but it's well worth it in the end.
They look a bit wild, but when conditioning your Freesia, you'll want to strip off the lower green leaves and maybe leave one or two on the stem for a cleaner look. Trim the stems at an angle at the point where the stem turns from yellow to green, and place in cool water.
The flowers will begin to bloom as the stems hydrate and you'll see numerous white flowers blossoming on each stem. We like these in a single, large vase for effect.
While we chose to display all the stems in one large vase, you can easily cut them in smaller bunches and drop into smaller vases to create more arrangements throughout the house.
Designing with Vanda Orchids
Design tips for working with Vanda Orchids
Vanda Orchids are long-lasting and sturdy. The brilliant color will dazzle you but be sure to remove the water tube and trim the stem before placing in cool water.
The multi-flowered stems have a beautiful, speckled pattern on each flower - delicate, as if hand painted. Each stem arrives with a water tube to help preserve them.
It's ok to snip a flower or two to ensure a good fit in your vase of choice. Keep the clipped flowers and float them in shallow bowls with cool water. Makes for a beautiful accent piece.
The end result will be stunning! We used clear tape in a gridded pattern to keep the stems from falling over. The orchids should last for some time as long as you keep them in a cool place and change the water daily.
Want to share your beautiful designs?
Send an image of your arrangement to meredith@bellefleurny.com so we can feature it here!