 | Arrangements 1 through 4 below are displayed here left to right. |
Fabulous Flowers
Jamie Huizenga of Cebolla Fine Flowers shares a few tricks of the trade for creating beautiful arrangements at home.
Asked for a quick lesson in the art of floral design, Jamie Huizenga of Cebolla Fine Flowers tells us that using only one type of flower and taking your design cues from the container are sure steps to success. If you’re at all nervous about flower arranging, roses are a foolproof choice, she says. With their almost endless variety of size, shape, color, and form, they’re very versatile. The simplest design idea is to select only one size, shape, and color of rose, but add smaller, spray roses or multicolored blooms to create interest and texture. Jamie pulled together four distinctive yet doable arrangements to illustrate basic principles of floral design. Before you know it, you’ll be designing like a pro.
1 Red Hot
Materials: A cylindrical container from Cebolla’s exclusive line of pottery, which is handmade in Europe. Nine dozen roses in five shades. The varieties in this example are Rustique, Carmel, Desert Sand, Caprock, and Black Magic, but use whatever you find. Choose roses in shades of a single color, not several different colors. Choose standard (not spray) roses of roughly the same size.
Design principle: Color is a major factor in creating aesthetically pleasing arrangements. A vibrant red pot, the inspiration for this design, is filled with warm-toned roses styled in a European rotunda.
Do it yourself: Create a swirl of color that moves from light to dark. Start working at the base, alternating each color. Hold each rose next to the container at the desired height and cut off any part of the stem that might hang below the pot. Use a very sharp knife and cut on a steep angle. Then add blooms directly to water containing floral preservative.
2 Beautifully Contained
Materials: Hand-blown Belgian art-glass vase. 15 roses in a complementary shade.
Design principle: Sometimes the container can and should take center stage. To complement the rich colors of the vase, use only one shade and variety of rose, in this case, Honea.
Do it yourself: Cut the stems short enough to stand inside the vase. The center roses will be slightly taller and the entire arrangement will have a slightly concave effect. You won’t need an anchor for this arrangement, as the roses will hold themselves vertically once you have enough blooms in the vase.
3 Fresh from the Garden
Materials: Cebolla’s tapered Trumpet vase in green. Eight dozen garden roses: six varieties of pink and green roses, standard and spray, such as Natanske, Universe, and Aromelle.
Design principle: Proportion is a key factor in design. The old height standard for floral arrangements was one-and-a-half times the height of the container. Today’s more elegant and modern designs are one-half of or equal to the height of the container.
Do it yourself: This is a more natural, garden-style arrangement, so start by adding the taller roses to the center of the container. Add flowers in small groups, filling in gaps naturally. Roses drink a lot of water; check the water level twice a day, and keep your vase full.
4 Citrus Punch
Materials: Cebolla’s brilliant orange Stolp pot. Five dozen roses (garden, standard, and spray), ranging in color from yellow to orange.
Design principle: Restricting your palette to monochromatic tones allows you to work with vibrant shades without creating a busy or discordant design. Create a full, rounded arrangement by positioning blooms around the neck of the container.
Do it yourself: Begin by placing the taller roses in the center of the arrangement, but trim stems to prevent creating a center point that is higher than the rest of the arrangement. Shorter roses can be added in almost horizontally to fill in at the base.
Cebolla Fine Flowers, 4320 Lovers Ln. 214-369-7673. www.cebollafineflowers.com.
