Shades of Fall
Floral Arrangement
Acid Wash Revere Bowl Floral picks
Styrofoam - cut 3”x3”x4”
Green floral tape
2 - Burgundy Prairie Berry sprays Wire
Eucalyptus - jade green & red
6 - Mixed Flower Pod Sprays Spanish moss
4 - Maize Prairie Thistle Sprays 3 yards fall ribbon
Glue gun
1. Glue 3”x3”x4” Styrofoam block into the acid wash revere bowl so the 4” are the height and the Styrofoam rises above the rim of the bowl about 1/2”. Cover the Styrofoam with Spanish moss.
2. From this step on, after cutting all components, hold in place in your floral arrangement to check length, trim if necessary, wire to floral pick, and wrap with green floral tape.
Refer to the photograph for placement of flowers in the arrangement.
Cut the mum bush apart as far down on the stem as possible. You will have five
clusters. Cut each cluster apart, leaving the smallest flower head stems the longest. (They will be about 10 1/2” long. The large head stems will be shorter.) Each stem should have one blossom or head.
3. Place 3 of the small head, 10 1/2” long stems in the Styrofoam. One should be straight up, and one should go straight out to each side. The stems going to the side should rest on the lip of the bowl. Cut 2 of the large head stems 7” long and place in the Styrofoam, resting on the lip of the bowl, coming straight out to the front, and straight out toward the back. Cut 5 flower stems (the heads can be various sizes) about 8” long and place them in the flower arrangement, evenly spaced, angled from the center out between the highest and the lowest flowers already in the arrangement. Reserve the remaining flower stems to fill in when the arrangement is almost completed
.4. Cut the jade green eucalyptus and the red eucalyptus to varying lengths between 12” and 6”, placing in the arrangement between the mums, with the longer pieces
pointing up and out in the middle, and off to the sides where the longest mum stems are. Use the shorter pieces out to the front and back, and lower in the arrangement. Alternate the colors of eucalyptus.
5. Wire 5 of the mixed flower bud stems to picks and place in the arrangement with 1 pointing up next to the highest mum, 2 pointing out to the sides near the long mum stems, and 2 near the front and back mums, off center to the right. Cut one mixed flower bud stem into two pieces and place in the arrangement toward the front and back to the left of the mums.
6. Cut each prairie thistle stem into three pieces and place in the arrangement, with the longer stems pointing up and out to the sides. Medium length stems should point straight out to the front and back under the mums. The shortest stems should fill in to the left and right of the center and in the middle of the arrangement.
7. Cut each prairie berry spray into 3 pieces. Place in arrangement as pictured.
8. Make 2 - 1 1/2 yard bows with short tails, wire with 2 pieces of 22 gauge wire (or 1 piece of 18 gauge wire) cut 13” long. Wire or tape to floral pick and place in arrangement on each side as in photo.
9. Add remaining mums to fill in empty spaces as needed.
BASIC FLORAL TIPS:
- Do not “pack” the arrangement by filling in too heavily. Allow different components to be long and short to create airiness in the arrangement.
- Except for the flower that goes straight up in the middle and the stems resting on the lip of the bowl, the stems should be placed in the arrangement at angles fanning out from the center of the arrangement.
- No mechanics (Styrofoam, picks, glue, etc.) should be visible when viewing the arrangement.
- When viewing the arrangement from the front, the main flowers should create the shape of a triangle. If viewed from above, the shape should be a diamond.
- The stems around the bottom of the arrangement should rest on the edge of the container. Flowers can angle down over the container.