From the Archives - 24 November 2014 - Take 3 Flowers!

This is the second post in a brand new blog series - called 'From the Archives'. It will be previously posted blog posts that I feel are still relevant for some reason or another. 

It will always be a post from the same calendar month as we are in or it could be some of my favourite flowers from the same season - that still lifts my spirit. 

Flowers are so ephemeral - but their beauty caught on camera never fades.........!!

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

Using flowers in closely related colours and then finding a vase or container in a similar colour can be a challenge - but boy what a pleasure when it works!

I love using Eucalyptus as foliage at this time of year and like here combined with a beautifully coloured Hydrangea and some dramatic dark berries - you don't need to add anything else. 

You'll need: 

- 1 stem of Hydrangea in a dark blue or purple colour - with a large flower head

-  5 stems of Viburnum berries

-  7 stems of small leaved Eucalyptus foliage - there is one called 'Baby Blue' that has small roundish leaves

- a large vase or container - in this case I have used a tall grey French vintage enamelled water jug

Here in the UK you can still buy Hydrangeas - mind you they are quite expensive - so I just picked one stem with a very large head in gorgeous green, purple and blue colours. 

A few stems of Viburnum, with dark blue almost black berries, will go a long way and I love the little red stems.

Eucalyptus is such an useful foliage, so I'm using it again - but this time one with a different size leaves - small and round. 

For conditioning the flowers - you'll also need:

- florists snippers or scissors

- a florist bucket

As always - condition the flowers by removing any leaves that would end up below the water line in the vase. 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.

Sorry, about always repeating this last bit - but it's probably the most important thing you can do to make your flowers last longer! So I'm afraid you have to put up with me always repeating myself.

Pick a large container in a colour relating to the flowers. Start off with the Hydrangea. It will have a woody stem so you will need to split the stem by making a second cut up the stem. Place it towards the front - resting on the edge of the container. 

The Viburnum berries will also have woody stems - so make that second cut up the stem on those as well. Place the berries behind the Hydrangea - a little bit taller than the Hydrangea - kind of framing the big flower. 

Lastly - trim and split the stems on the Eucalyptus, if the stems are thick and woody, and place them behind the dark berries - just kind of sticking up at the back and the sides - giving the whole arrangement a bit of movement. 

Some colouring pencils in relating colours - in a vintage pewter jar

It's such a pleasure to be able to work with beautiful plant materials and the beauty of Hydrangeas never ceases to amaze me and it will probably always be one of my favourite flowers.

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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