Valentine's Day Love
For many floral designers Valentine’s Day is the biggest holiday of the year. To meet the volume of the holiday is is necessary to be organized and plan arrangements that can be prepared days before the holiday. In this video Leanne shares a beautiful arrangement framed in heart shaped heather. This is a perfect design for the busy holiday of love. Enjoy!
Welcome to the flower school .com video library. I'm Leanne Kesler, Director of The Floral Design Institute, and today I'm here to chat with you about Valentine's Day. For many florists, it's the biggest day of their entire year.
The base a classic compote filled with flower foam, then to create the heart, quarter-inch aluminum wire, the flat wire, bent into a heart shape. This will be the base. Then, to make it stand out and be fabulous, beautiful, long-lasting heather using bouillon wire to hold it in place.
Starting with your longest pieces. Make sure the base is stripped down. Give it a cut, then you're going to mold it around, angling it, and again, then repeat that so that you've got the front and the back. Once you get your base in place, come back with the bouillon wire and begin securing it to form the heart.
Once you have the body done, go back with your shorter bits. Enhance. They can just go right in softening the lines. Again, front and back, coming back with a bit of foliage, extending, making it longer. Italian ruscus is wonderful, letting it come out on the horizontal. Filling a bit in the center, coming back out on the horizontal again, carrying your eye through. Maybe a little bit of salal, give a different green, different growth format. Then coming back with some fragrant stock, out to the sides a bit to bring the color outward and anchor the design.
The framework is set. Just need to fill in the emphasis area. Bring in the rest of the flowers, maybe a beautiful blueberry rose because Valentine's doesn't have to be red. It can be any color, purple, pink, purple-pink, orange, yellow, purple-pink, so many different choices. A tulip. Yes, it's a tulip that I carefully reflexed the petals adding dramatic impact. It's easy to do. Just take your tulip after it's warmed to room temperature, and reflex the petals back, careful to not crack them. It gives you a beautiful poppy flower. Just carefully reflex, tucking it in. Not too tall because remember, tulips are going to continue to grow so you don't want them to grow out of the design. Maybe a few miniature carnations. They're so long-lasting and beautiful. One of my favorites, the lisianthus in the soft lavender. So many different varieties all blending together in a monochromatic design.
As a final touch, double check that all your mechanics and foam are concealed, then go back and add just a little more texture. Maybe some seeded eucalyptus that helps to break the line of the container at the front. Maybe a little bit more heather to add fullness on the sides, turn it, look at it from both sides and make sure it's perfect.
Valentine's Day is such a busy day. Professional florists are always looking for ways to make things fabulous and fast. This design is perfect because you can do the heart way ahead, more than a week ahead. Spray it down with Crowning Glory and set it aside. Then, as the holiday comes close, go back and add your flowers. For more creative inspiration, check out our website flower school .com. If you've got questions, you can reach us through there or pick up the telephone and give me a call at 503-223-8089, and of course, as always, I'd love to see what you create. Take a photo, post it on social media, and tag Floral Design Institute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
