With each spring I can’t help but think of these words by E.E. Cummings: “sweet spring is your time is my time is our time for springtime is lovetime and viva sweet love.”
Indeed, springtime is SO love time, and viva sweet love, FOR SURE! So for this floral how-to I went with bold colors and wild, reaching textures. Since this arrangement was being done for a mantel, I wanted it to almost look like open arms so that when you entered the room, you’d feel like you were getting a ‘viva sweet love’ hug!
This time of year, there are so many gorgeous florals to choose from – I plucked my favorites keeping in mind a mix of neutrals and soft pinks with a pop from those garden roses and ranunculus!
Pro Tip: After purchasing and cleaning your roses, if after a couple days you find that you’d still like them to be bloomed more for your arrangement, you can gently separate those inner, tighter petals. Once done, be sure to give the stems a fresh, angled cut and then place them right into your arrangement in progress. Also, make sure to do this with clean hands, specifically clear of any oils.
To begin, I wanted to choose a vessel out of this assortment of lovely, organic pots and vases.
I chose the rectangle pot since it mimicked the elongated shape I wanted the arrangement to have. Instead of using chicken wire like I did in this post, I am using a traditional pin floral frog. These can be bought new at most nurseries, or next time you see them when you’re antiquing (which they’re always there, right!?!) swoop a few up.
When you begin adding your stems into the arrangement, place them all the way onto the pin floral frog, making sure to use the pins to securely hold the stems in place. I am using this Hellebore as the majority of my greenery filler.
Next, I am adding some Eucalyptus. Notice how I have left some areas of the arrangement with less greenery, while other spots are a bit more dense.
Then – some airy, reaching branches for shape!
Now I’m going to add in a few roses as focal points for this arrangement. These garden roses are so intense, I’m only going to add a couple so that those few, perfect blooms really stand out.
How fun are these peach, antenna-like Ranunculus? These will really help pull color out in the ‘arms’ of this arrangement.
Time for the finishing touches! When nearing completion on an arrangement, I like to go through and fill any colorless or textureless holes with some of the blooms I initially started with it.
And we’re done! I know, we make it sound so simple right? Just remember that putting together arrangements like this is a learning, organic process! Keep some basic design principles in mind like visual balance and color placement, and you’ll be a whiz in no time!
Don’t forget about your scraps! Blooms that have gotten too top heavy and perhaps fallen off or broken can be saved! Add a little water to this bowl and put these little floating left-overs in a guest room or on a side table.
Enjoy every last bit!
