Urban Meadow
Rolling fields of blooming flowers have such a carefree feel to them -- why not bring that feeling indoors?! In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne creates a foam-free arrangement of veronica, scabiosa, sweetpeas, narcissis, grape hyacinth and more, where the meadow style of design meets urban concrete to create a look that's fresh, a little edgy, and on-trend. Enjoy!
Video Transcription
The meadow style of design, so on trend, combining it with the grit of the city and keeping it foam-free makes this a fabulous arrangement. Let me show you how it's done.
The flowers, so many of my favorites, sweet peas, scabiosa, narcissus, veronica, and tiny little muscari. The container, it's not waterproof, but gives you that gritty cement look of the city. So placing a waterproof liner in then rather than foam, going to an eco-alternative with a kenzan, it's very heavy, so I can just place that directly in. Then add water pre-mixed with flower food.
As I begin the meadow, just placing the flowers in as they would grow. So keeping them upright. They can angle a bit because flowers do angle out, but you don't want them to go totally sideways and keep thinking about it as it would grow in nature. Some would be a little shorter, some a little taller, all from a central root system. So using parallel lines rather than radial. Then coming in with other varieties. The sweet peas give a little bit different placement, and since they naturally kind of lean, letting it do so. Grouping, coming a bit to the front, maybe even a little bit lower, so it starts pulling the eye down, then the narcissus. Adding fragrance to the design. Now these have been hydrated separately, so the sap won't be a problem for the rest of the arrangement. And just filling in, making sure you get them tightly onto the pins so that they stay in place.
When it comes to adding little tiny stems like the muscari, the stems are a little bit small to fit the pins well. So if you cluster them in your hand, then give them a little tape securing them together, then cut just below the tape and insert them in place all at the same time. Just weaving down in, drawing your eye. That blue is just perfect in there. And then coming back, adding in some of the pincushion scabiosa to help bring the color up to the top.
To finish and add a little visual weight to the base. A few leaves, galax are wonderful because they just are sweet little, just tucking them down in making sure they get tightly in. And then for a little lighter hue, the soft mint green carnation, treating it like a foliage and just tucking it down low, finding the perfect hole to give a nice base for the flowers to grow upwards.
The recipe. I used eight stems of the veronica to give myself the height. Then seven stems of sweet pea, five of the paper white narcissus, three of the scabiosa, then five of the mint carnations, one full bunch of the muscari, and then three galax leaves to finish it off.
Combining the grit of the city with the beauty of a meadow, so fun in the spring time. For more creative inspiration, check out the website flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Find a city container, fabulous flowers, and combine them. Be sure to take a picture, post it on social media, and #FloralDesignInstitute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
