Take 3 Flowers! - # 6 - Red and Pink Roses with Green Foliage

I'm back with another blog post in the series 'Take 3 Flowers!'

In this blog series I will show you how to make easy but beautiful and stylish flower arrangements - just using three different flowers. Often one of the three will be some kind of foliage.

Using just three flowers will sometimes be a challenge - but it will also keep the cost down. Cut flowers can be expensive but foliage on the other hand tends to be cheep. You can use lots of it to help fill out the arrangement and to provide support and structure for the other flowers.

I'm using two different roses - a dark red one and a light pink one. Normally roses are not cheep - but these were being sold in big bunches of 10 and 20 roses in each for very little money. I was working on another project where I also needed roses so I went for it.

The foliage is light green variegated Pittosporum that grows in my garden - so all I had to do was to go out and cut a few branches. I use it all the time because it has a lovely green colour that goes well with a lot of different coloured flowers. 

You'll need: 

- 7 stems of dark red roses

- 5 stems of light pink roses

- 5 stems of Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Silver Queen'

- a re-cycled tin/can - washed and with the label removed

For conditioning the flowers - you'll also need:

- florists snippers or scissors

- a florist bucket

Condition the flowers by removing any leaves that would end up below the water line in the vase. This is to reduce any growth of bacteria from deteriorating leaves.

Cut the stems at an angle - to increase water absorption.  

Put in a clean container with tepid water and leave in a cool, dark place over night or at least for a few hours before making the final arrangement.

You might also have to re-cut the stems while making the final arrangement to suit the size of the vase or container.

I often find the roses you buy at this time of year a bit stiff and formal - I don't want to say that I don't like them - because I like most flowers - but I wanted to use them in a little bit of a different way.

So - I choose to use a regular old re-cycled tin or can as the Americans call them. I have left it plain but you could decorate it by painting it, using washi tape or tying ribbons, twine or raffia around it.  

Start off by putting in all the stems of the foliage evenly throughout the container. Measure the roses against the side of the tin before making the final cut and leave them just long enough to rest on the edge of the tin. 

Make a nice dome shaped arrangement with some of the flowers in the middle a bit longer and have the foliage weave their way between the roses and show above the roses to give some texture and height.  

I find the contrast fun and interesting - formal stiff roses and a bit of re-cycling or re-using something that most people throw away.

This could also be an early inspiration for Valentine's Day - because despite using an old tin - the arrangement has everything you want from a Valentine's arrangement - with its sweet and romantic red and pink roses and beautiful foliage.

Have a Lovely Floral Monday!

See you later in the week!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

[Styling and photography © Ingrid Henningsson for Of Spring and Summer.]