010: Naturalism

Since I went to see cherry blossoms this past weekend, I planned to do something with branches for this week's WFT.  It was quite interesting how this idea popped up because the TV show that I started watching last week, "Super Flower Lesson", was about a bouquet with branches this week.  I didn't know about it at all and I even was going to do WFT before the show, but I decided to watch it just in case I might be able to learn more technical tips or to get other ideas from it.  But what an odd coincidence!!  It just happened to show how to arrange a garden style bouquet and the main thing about it was to add some branches in the bouquet to make it look more natural.  Apparently, naturalism is now a popular thing in the Paris flower scene.  Adding branches and other natural elements like berries are the key.  Also keeping the stems long and tying them with natural materials like vines or straw is very hip.  So I decided to give this a shot.

When I went to the flower shop, the person recommended me to try some large Tulips that are a very gentle pinkish orange color.  So I was all for them.  Then there was a gorgeous red Garden Rose in the cooler and I was going to get it but the color was a bit too bold next to the Tulips.  So I took that back and instead, I got two Calla Leaves that had an orange tint in the middle. And of course, I got a couple of Willow branches.  I was quite happy with what I got so far but after I left the florist, I thought that more "natural" elements could be added.  So while I was at the grocery store, I looked for some more natural looking greens.  Man, their flowers are so pricey...  Well, that's because they don't sell them individually.  Anyhow, I quickly gave up on getting additional items at their flower section.  In stead, I found a bunch of Dills and some orange Habanero Peppers in the produce section and decided to use them.  Dills look pretty much like Cosmos leaves and I knew they'd fit in the "garden" bouquet theme.  Peppers might have been a little bit of a stretch, but I needed some more pop in the bouquet.  So I took a risk and got them. 

 It was a bit harder to arrange because Dills are not flowers and are very flimsy.  But I managed to put them together after 5 attempts!  From the TV show I learned what's called the "Spiral Technique" that you put flowers diagonally and making them a spiral.  If you are right handed, you hold the flowers on your left hand and put flower closer to you and stem away from you.  This was much harder than I thought.  In the middle of doing it, I was confused if I was right handed or left handed...  Because I realized that I always used to changed hands when I made a bouquet.  Also, I sometimes do things left handed like snow boarding or backwards skating.  So I tried both and still don't know which one I'm good at!  Finally I became satisfied with how it looked and was able to tie the stems with straw ribbons I got from Paper Source, another great store down the street from my home.  To make it a Parisian bouquet is to wrap the ribbon wide and cut it very short to minimize distraction to keep the main attraction still be the flowers, not the ribbon.

When my husband came home and saw the new bouquet on the dining table, he LOVED it!  He totally got the theme right away, and that means this was a huge success!!!