DIY Flower Tips and Inspiration - # 4 - Stock Flowers

Here is another instalment in my new series: 'DIY Flower Tips and Inspiration' - and it's all about Matthiola. The common name for them is Stock or Gillyflower.

• Try to buy the flowers when the top flowers are in bud and the lowest flowers are open.
• Remove most of the leaves - the leaves are lush and fleshy and will take the water needed for the flowers.
• Cut away any white parts at the bottom of the stems - or the flower will not be able to take up water.
• Stock flowers do best in shallow water - so just fill the vase with a little bit of water. Just remember to change water when you need to.
• The individual little flowers are easily broken off - so handle with care! 
• They last in a vase for about 5-7 days.
• Stock is a wonderful sweetly fragrant flower that comes in beautiful colours.
• Buy some and enjoy!

Have a Great Floral Day!

I'll see you later in the week with more DIY flowers from 

'Of Spring and Summer'.

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

[Styling and Photography © Ingrid Henningsson for Of Spring and Summer]


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Floral Styling - Simple Flower Arrangement - # 3 - Eucalyptus and Pink Tulips

Here is another DIY arrangement that is simple and easy. This time I have used grey-green Eucalyptus leaves and pink tulips.

I had a grey and pink theme in mind when I went to my local flower stall about five minutes from my house. But mid-week and especially at this time of year I was not quite sure what I was going to find.

Eucalyptus leaves are usually readily available at flower markets, flower stalls and at the florist. Less so from a farmers' market as it is usually grown as a tree or a shrub and few farmers in the UK would grow Eucalyptus trees on their farms. It's a native of Australia and a few other countries on that side of the globe - so I presume it's easy to find "down under". 

Eucalyptus comes in a variety of different shaped leaves - some have small round leaves, others have large round leaves and you can also find one with longer narrow leaves. They can also vary a bit in colour from silver grey to light green. You can also buy them with little round berries or fruits that adds texture to the arrangement.

Tulips have started to appear on the flower stalls and I just could not resist these pretty pink ones. 

Condition the foliage and flowers as normal by removing any leaves that will end up below the waterline and also any bruised or damaged leaves. Cut the stems at an angle to expose the largest possible area for the flower to absorb water.

I started by arranging quite a few stems of the foliage in a silver-grey metal vase and it's quite fun that it has names of flowers carved onto the side around the top of the vase. I then added - an uneven number of five pink tulips - cut them shorter then the foliage so that they sit a bit lower in the vase and also towards the middle so that they are completely surrounded by leaves - it makes them stand out more.

I made a second very small arrangement using a mini vase with a lot of texture - in a grey-green colour and just added a few sprigs of Eucalyptus leaves - cut very short.

The grey-green foliage looks great against the silver and adding the five pink tulips as a contrast is just the icing on the cake. The two colours are fabulous together and it is a quick and easy arrangement that you could maybe do for the weekend. 

Have a lovely Floral Day!

See you soon again!

xoxo Ingrid

Floral Styling - Simple Flower Arrangement - # 2 - Ornamental Cabbage

Ornamental cabbage is such a great flower - or maybe we should call it plant - to use in flower arranging. They are easy to handle, lasts for ages, they are also cheep and they are fun because you can do so many things with them. They are only available during the autumn and my local farmers' market here in London has lots of them right now. 

They come in a variety of colours - green, white, pink and purple. But saying that - they are all variegated - meaning they are all multi coloured. Some are prettier then others but they are all interesting.

When you buy them they usually come with long bare stems. Condition them like you do with all flowers by removing any broken or discoloured leaves and cut the stem at an angle before putting them in a container with water. I read in several books where they suggest that you should have as little water as possible in the vase to prevent the stems from rotting. 

You can use them with other flowers - where they will bring a lot of depth and texture in a mixed arrangement. They have lovely crinkly edges and a rustic look to them and they make a great focal point as well - so they are perfect to use like I have done here - mostly as single stems. 

I have put them in all kinds of different shaped laboratory beakers as well as using a vintage Dundee marmalade jar, an old French mustard pot and a green milk jug from the 1930's.

If you use them as single stems cut the length of the stem so that the bottom leaves rest on the rim of the container. That way it looks more pleasing then having bare stem between top of vase and bottom leaf.

Also when any of the lower leaves turn yellow or go discoloured - don't throw the whole stem away - just take off the bad leaves and you can keep on doing that. In the end you will have a bunch of small rosettes of cabbage leaves that almost look like roses - mind you with quite thick stems! 

In some cases I have cut the stem really short and put them as a single stem in a low wide jar - in other cases I have left the stem as long as possible to use in taller vases. 

 Try some out and tell me what you think!

Have a lovely floral day!

See you soon again!

xoxo Ingrid