tips, tricks and flower suppliers

Thank you for staying with Ephemeral Fall. In my last blog post, I would like to offer some tips and tricks as well as recommendations on flower suppliers for those who are interested in arranging their own flowers. Join us in the podcast below where me and my partner in crime, Kah Man from #Legit Anot, share about our floristry journey.

how to wrap a handtied bouquet

Welcome back to Ephemeral Fall. Finally, it is my blog post on bouquet wrapping. This blog post might be slightly longer than the others but it would definitely worth the read. All the best in wrapping your own bouquet.

Tools required: floral scissors or garden shears, jute twine or binding wire, aluminium foil, cellophane, cotton, wrapping paper

1. Arranging flower:

• Take a large bloom (or a group of same flowers) as your center flower.
• Start adding in different flowers following spiral method.
• turn the bunch slightly in the same direction everytime you add a flower or foliage to create a neat spiral of stems for easy adjustment of the arrangement.
• If you are using flowers with different colours, make sure they are distributed evenly.
• the colour distribution would look overwhelmed at one side if there are too much dark-coloured flowers on the left and light-coloured flowers on the right.
• Tie the bouquet up with jute twine or binding wire.
• Adjust the arrangement again before tying a dead knot.
• Make sure to move up flowers that sink in and adjust foliage position.
• Cut stems diagonally to desired length at similar level for water absorption.

Arranging flowers

2. Wrapping up with cotton:

• Place the bouquet on top of a sheet of aluminum foil.
• Cover the stems with dry cotton (do not wet the cotton before wrapping stems as it would be difficult to adjust wet cotton).
• Make sure the bottom part of cotton is thicker for better water absorption.
• Fold the aluminum foil up and wrap together.
• Put into plastic bag or wrap with cellophane and seal with jute twine or binding wire.

Wrapping with cotton

how to make a baby's breathe bridal bouquet and boutonniere

Making a baby's breathe bridal bouquet and boutonniere is time-consuming but not difficult, follow the steps below and you would be able to do it as well. 

Bridal bouquet:

1. Prepare two packs of baby’s breathe (to create a large-sized bridal bouquet).
2. Unpack and separate the stems carefully (baby’s breathe tends to get tangled up easily).  
3. Cut the larger stems into smaller pieces and start putting them together in a spiral or parallel manner. 
4. Adjust the height of each stem. 
5. Use floral tape to bind (baby’s breathe stems are extremely delicate) and tie a ribbon at the binding point.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 6

how to spiral flowers

The spiral technique is essential in bouquet arranging, it allows easy attempt to insert or remove flowers and foliage while designing because the stems are only overlapping each other (no crossover), in that flowers and foliage should easily slide in and out. 

• Start with the first stem as a base.

• Place one stem over it at a 45-degree angle in the same direction using the thumb as a pointer. 

• Rotate the bunch of stems as another stem is added, always keeping the placement at angle so they form a spiral.

• Adjust the height of each stem to create different shapes of bouquet from round classic to flowing organic.

It is always a good idea to start practice on spiralling beforehand with leftover stems because it is easier to see what is going on without any flower and foliage on the stems. It may be slightly awkward at first, but the spiral effect would start to develop when many stems have been layered in. It would feel more secure with more stems arranging in the same direction. 

All mistakes are practice. Good luck.

how to condition foliage

Followed by the previous blog posts on how to condition flowers, I have made a brief one on how to condition foliage as well. Hope you would find it useful. 

Eucalyptus Cineria care and handling:

1. Start by unwrapping the bunch. 
2. Cut the stems at points that make the longest stems possible and into smaller pieces if necessary.
3. Remove any leaves below the water line.
4. Cut the stems at an angle and set them in a vessel of water.

how to condition flowers (2)

This blog post is a continuation of the previous blog post on how to condition flowers. Scroll down to find out more about the care and handling of tulips and gerbera daisies. 

Tools required: floral scissors or garden shears, flower food, Quick Dip, cellophane

Tulips care and handling:

1. Choose tulips that are tucked down low inside the leaves because once they are harvested, they would grow the length of their head every single day. The further down the heads, the longer they would last. 
2. Loosen or remove the rubber band and plastic.
3. Remove any damage foliage.
4. Wrap them with cellophane or paper leaving the ends extended and staple that together to ensure they are protected and held upright.
5. Cut the stems at angle and set them in a vase or bucket of water with flower food.

how to condition flowers (1)

Although the shelf life of cut flowers is short, taking proper care would help them to last longer. Scroll down for more details on how to condition hydrangeas and roses. 

Tools required: floral scissors or garden shears, flower food, Quick Dip, rose stripper

Hydrangeas care and handling:

1. Prepare a vase or bucket of warm water and mix it with the proper amount of flower food (follow the directions written on the container).
2. Remove plastic or paper around the flowers and possibly any damaged leaves and florets. 
3. Make a slanted cut with sharp knife or garden shears and repeat that on the other side of each stem, set them right down into the water and let them drink overnight before starting to design (absolute minimum two hours but overnight is even better).
4. If hydrangeas are slightly dehydrated, give them an instant hydration treatment by using Quick Dip. Pour 1 to 2 inches of the solution in a small container and give them clean cuts at an angle then, dip them into it for 1 second before setting them down into the vase.
5. On the other hand, if hydrangeas are in a severely stressed condition, give them angled cuts, use Quick Dip, immerse 1 inch of the stems in boiling water and let them cool to room temperature. 

flowers and foliage introduction

My second blog post introduces forms and functions of flowers and foliage used in floral design. 
Flowers and foliage are classified based on their characteristics into categories of mass, form, filler and line. 

• mass materials provide visual weight
• form materials define the focal area
• filler materials add accents or finishing touches
• line materials create the framework for an arrangement

*Floral materials from any single group or combination of groups are used to create an arrangement. A specific flower or foliage type is not limited to one group of categorisation. 

There are several factors to consider in selecting materials for floral arrangements. 

• color scheme or theme of the arrangement
• seasonal availability of the desired floral material
• cost per stem of the floral materials 

Check out the video below and try to categorise the flowers and foliage accordingly. Special thanks to Michelle from Surrealography for the help. 

the basics of handtied bouquet

Welcome to Ephemeral Fall. My blog focuses on providing practical guides on Korean style handtied bouquets for floral beginners. While it may be unusual for a university student to be demonstrating how to put together flowers from flower care and handling to flower arranging, I would like to share my knowledge and experience on floristry based on the workshops and private classes that I attended which organized by professional florists.

This my first blog post on the basics of handtied bouquet and I would introduce the six elements of design in bouquet making.