Textural Floral Pavé
Low, lush and full of beautiful texture, a pavé-style arrangement is truly a feast for the eyes. The contrast of rough to smooth, velvety to fluffy, and spiky to softly curving make a design that can really pull the viewer in. In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne constructs a textural floral tapestry with a single blooming artichoke, galax leaves, hanging amaranthus, roses, dahlias, drumstick allium, eryngium and a bit of Queen Anne's Lace. Enjoy!
Video Transcription
The textural pavé, one of my favorite designs, and a shout-out to a friend of mine, René Van Rims, who always said, "You can pavé yourself to poverty", but I say, "Let's pavé ourselves to beauty."
The materials have been chosen for their textures and that transition of color, fabulous artichoke, deep red roses, allium, dahlias, and more. The mechanics, a solid dish filled with midnight foam. It's been pre-soaked in fresh water and flower food.
Starting with covering a bit of the mechanics, some hanging Amaranthus, giving it a cut, and then placing it in and letting it wind across the container and even back. It can drape over, but actually getting it just to create a pathway. Adding in some galax leaves can help break the line of the container. Terracing, pulling the eye from the front to the back, stair-stepping across, and then bringing in the artichokes first. They're so big and textural. Cutting them down, making them very short so that they become part of the emphasis area, guiding your eye towards the binding point. Everything will rotate right into there, creating a strong emphasis to anchor the design.
Now adding additional blooms, keeping them flat to the surface, carrying on the pavé. And thinking about drawing the eye from one side to the other, always pulling the line through. Bringing in some of the intense red, helping to transition us over to the December holiday season. And the lovely little allium, getting that round form, adding even more texture, tufting them together so they create interest in that area.
When you have everything covered, then stand back and take a look. Sometimes it's nice to add just one more surprising element. Maybe a bit of the Queen Anne's lace tucked in, drawing attention to this side. Coming up a little bit above, almost like it's layering over the top. Adding in a tiny bit of Eryngium, picking up that blue, and just crossing over the color wheel a tiny bit further to expand upon the analogous color harmony.
The recipe. I started with one stem of the Artichoke and cut it apart. 10 stems of the Galax Leaves. Two stems of the Hanging Amaranthus that wrapped around, just peeking through from underneath. Then 10 stems of the Red Rose, three of the Purple Dahlias, five of the small Allium, just one of the Queen Anne's Lace, and just a portion of the Eryngium.
As we transition the seasons, it's such a busy time of year. The textural tapestry becomes your own personal Zen garden. Before you get too busy, create your own. Pick textural blossoms that you can touch and feel and design. Be sure to take a picture, post it on social media and #FloralDesignInstitute and #self-care. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
