Floral Design with The Art of Flowers

In the not to0 distant past, I took a few floral design classes with Art of Flowers in Raleigh (hosted by Watered Garden Florist). I had a great time and loved having access to so many professional cut flowers. The classes also included a number of tips and tricks.

Two of my favorite tips relate to ways to help keep flowers "full" looking and upright in a vase.

1. Create a ball out of a piece of chicken wire about the same diameter as the top of your vase. Then stick your trimmed leaves through the wire ball at various angles to help disperse stems while keeping them upright.
2. Create a criss-cross grid out of thin floral (or trimmed scotch) tape strips across the top of your vase. Insert your flowers into the grid to help keep them upright. (For me, this one sounds better in theory in practice as I've found changing water to be a challenge with this approach. Its also a pain when a leaf falls into the water under the grid.)
   

During one of the classes, I ventured out to do a monochromatic design in a low shallow bowl. (As an aside, the owners of Art of Flowers had picked up the bowls on a trip to Africa - which is pretty neat!) I never would have tried this before as oasis was the only true support for the flowers. I clothed my oasis in a blanket of moss. Below is the outcome: it made a pretty cheery centerpiece in the dining room.

The fee for the classes is extremely reasonable when you consider that its both educational and entertaining to participate and you get to take home an arrangement to boot!