Contemporary Arrangement with a Succulent
With smooth petals and an exceptionally long vase life, succulents are still on-trend, and can be a fun addition to an arrangement. In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne designs with these desert beauties accented with montbretia, craspedia, cottage yarrow, scented geranium leaves, lily grass, and one of Leanne's favorites - galax leaves. Fun fact: succulents can be repotted after the blooms fade. Enjoy!
Video Transcription
Succulents, on trend for so many years and still trending strong. They're fabulous in arrangements. Let me show you how.
The vase, a geometric vessel filled with midnight foam. The exciting part, using a succulent. Yes, I bought a plant and I just reach in and actually cut off a stem that I'll use in the arrangement. If the person is a plant lover, when the flowers fade, they can take it and plant it and it will root and grow again, double gift. And montbretia, beautifully geometric on its own right, which will be wonderful to mimic the lines of the vase.
Starting with the montbretia, placing it to establish lines. Now, to get the placement you want, you may need to cut off a side shoot or two. Then determine how you want it to come up, placing it in, angling, and then repeating that, again thinking about the side shoot and getting it in place to where it draws your eye back to the emphasis area.
For the emphasis, of course, the succulent. To secure it, use a wood-wired pick and place it against the stem, wrapping it around. This will give you that little extra stability without harming the stem itself. Giving it a fresh cut because you want it to continue drinking, and then placing it down right at the base so it helps to break the line of the container. You can expand that by adding galax leaves to draw attention to the beautiful bloom.
As you finish, you can enhance by adding the buds that you removed and filling it in as though they're growing from the same stems. You want it to look like it's natural. Then you can come back with a little bit of foliage, some geranium, that soft yellow hue, pulling the eye through to the back of the arrangement, tucking it in low. Maybe some craspedia, pulling the eye back up, creating lines on the opposite side and drawing the eye inward. You can always go back and add a little more color, some beautiful cottage yarrow, picking up the hue of the montbretia and pulling it all the way through to the bottom.
As you finish, take a look at it, front, back, and sides. Look for where there might be a hole. You can see there on the back side, adding in another yarrow to finish it off. Maybe another stem with the bud of the montbretia, so that it really becomes all-sided, even though it does have a front. Maybe another leaf, and then turning it, checking it again, and then enhancing with one more leaf coming out to the side. Actually, three leaves, blades of grass. Shortening them and then sliding them under to drape down the front.
The recipe. I started with the cutting from the succulent plant, so one piece of succulent. Then two stems of the montbretia, five stems of the craspedia, four of the cottage yarrow. Then one stem of the geranium, five of the tiny little galax leaves and three blades of lily grass.
Sometimes design gets inspiration from the vessel, other times from a unique item. Always add flowers and have fun. You'll find more creative inspiration on the website flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. Now it's your turn. Find a cool vessel. Find a succulent. Then choose your favorite flowers. As you create your design, be sure to take a picture, post it on social media and #FlowerDesignInstitute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
