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Must have Muscari

By on April 18, 2012 in Anemones, Cut flowers, Floristry, Muscari, Ranunculus, Tulips

It has been lovely to be back in my studio arranging flowers. I have spent a lot of time over the winter months at my laptop designing weddings and preparing quotes. I have been talking about flowers for months and finally I’ve been let loose.

The last two weddings have been a mixture of pinks and blues. I have mainly been working with anemones, ranunculus, narcissi, tulips and muscari.

The spring flowers are quite challenging to arrange due to their fleshy stems. They are often heavy headed and don’t like being in oasis. I think tulips have the most diva-like tendencies. They take a lot of careful handling and then once I’ve finished arranging after a few hours they’ve moved and pleased themselves anyway. Like true divas though, they know they are worth all the fuss! 

I’ve really enjoyed working with the muscari this year. The stems have been long and the graded blue heads have offered a delicacy to the palette. They are a fabulous bridal flower to use as they last well out of water, making them great for hair flowers and button holes. Here is a flower crown created with muscari and lily of the valley.

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Here it is again mixed with narcissi and viburnum for a corsage and used with lily of the valley to create a hair clip:

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The anemones have been amazing this year. The fully open heads have been so huge a couple of people have mistaken them for oriental poppies! The stems have been straight and long, perfect for constructing a hand tie bouquet.

 

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It’s always fun to do something big and bold. For last weeks wedding we created three flower balls. I used a base of choisia and viburnum then added ranunculus, anemones, solomons seal and scilla. We also used some magnolia from the family’s garden. They certainly made an impact!

 

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At the other end of the floristry scale, just a few stems in a bud vase can be heavenly too. Simple, natural and beautiful.

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Jo Wise

 

 

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Tulip Time

By on April 10, 2012 in conditioning, Cut flowers, Floristry, Tulips

I have mixed feelings about tulips, On the one hand they are essential to the spring palette and their range of shapes and colours offers such versatility to March and April bouquets. A quick peruse of a Parkers or Bloms bulb catalogue offers such an overwhelming choice that you will never be able to consider buying the rather small headed, boring tulip bunches in the shops again.

On the other hand, tulip time can be an anxious few weeks for the flower grower. I grow a lot of them in the polytunnel for an earlier 'forced' crop. Grown under cover also encourages much longer stems. However, it is always a gamble. If we have a cool wet spring than the tulips are sheltered from the rain and are ready in the correct early, mid and late order. If we get a hot spell, like a couple of weeks ago than they tend to all come at once. This is often difficult from a sales point of view but I have been fortunate this year with lots of early weddings.

 

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I treat my tulips like annuals, they are planted densely and shallowly so that they can just be tugged out of the ground and the bulb snipped off. This rather dramatic act always makes my customers squeal! If I do not harvest the flowers than the bulb is lifted and dried for replanting the following autumn. We put them in the field using the potato planter on the tractor, along with scented narcissi and dutch iris.

Some of my favourite varieties for cutting include the viridaflora type like Spring Green, Greenland and Dolls Minuet.

 

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I love all the voluptuous peony tulips we have used a lot of Montreaux in bridal bouquets this year. For a contrasting shape the lily-flowered China Pink is a wonderfully tall elegant tulip for large vases. 

 

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I enjoy tulips arranged with a bit of blossom from the orchard. I always tend to put them in the vase slightly short because I know they will carry on growing and look just right after a couple of days.

 

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DIY Brides – Have fun!

By on February 29, 2012 in Corsage, Floristry, Floristry Courses, Weddings
Most brides we see at Green and Gorgeous want to create a natural feel to their wedding. They don't want to fall into line and ride the wedding conveyor belt, they want to 'keep it real'. Creating your own wedding flowers can be a great way of expressing yourself and ensuring your wedding day is unique to you. Many arrangements can be done the day before and is an opportunity for friends and family to come together and feel involved.
At Green and Gorgeous  we offer a combination service, alongside our supply only and full floristry service. This is for those who would like to do some of the arranging themselves but not all. We could arrange just the bouquets and buttonholes or larger elements such as garlands and pedestals too. We also hire vintage china and host flower arranging courses and hen parties, so brides can pick up a few good tips before the big day.
Creating your own wedding flowers should be fun and as long as you follow a few guidelines there is no reason for it not to be a really positive experience. Our garden flowers don't need to be fussed or over arranged, they lend themselves well to being popped into a jug or jam jar.
My Top Tips are:
  • Be realistic about what you can achieve in the time you have available.
  • Make sure your helpers can commit and know what is expected of them.
  • Be mindful of the height of your containers for the tables, make sure the flowers won't mask your guests view.
  • Be prepared and have a plan. Know what you want doing. Have a work space prepared. Have a cool storage place for the arranged flowers to go over night (not the marquee!)  and allow time to tidy up.
  • Ask advice on conditioning and how the flowers will perform.
  • Have fun and most importantly enjoy the process!

 

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Thank you so much for all of our wedding flowers. We so enjoyed arranging the table centres (I put all my arranging skills from the hen do into practise – all your hard work paid off, thank you Jo!) And the bouquets and button holes were just wonderful. The soft natural look worked beautifully with the feel of our day. We can’t thank you enough. -  Anna & Bradley

Jo Wise

 

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