Kensington Arrangement
A vase can be used to simply house cut flowers or it can be used more creatively to host a majestic floral arrangement like the Kensington Flower Arrangement. Not surprisingly this arrangement will take more time than placing a bunch of stems in a vase but the results will speak for themselves and it will be well worth the investment.
Step 1
Soak your foam cylinder, place in your junior bowl and secure using pot tape. Cut a 30cm square piece of gold spider’s web and place this under the junior bowl. Now place the junior bowl in the opening of the vase. Push the spider’s web tight to the base of the junior bowl to secure it in the vase; this will prevent the bowl from slipping about in the opening of the glass vase.
Adding Foliage
Step 2
The shape of the arrangement you are creating is that of a low pyramid. To achieve this look firstly place a piece of foliage approx 10cm high in the centre of your foam cylinder (Remove this foliage once you have the shape is your mind). For the width take two pieces of foliage approx 15cm long and place in either side of the cylinder close to the base. Now imagine you have a piece of string and you place that from the height of the arrangement and run this down to the width of the arrangement. No flowers or foliage should go outside this pyramid shape. Begin placing a mix of foliage and berries to the foam cylinder. Add some long pieces of ivy at the base flowing down this will soften the arrangement. Refer to figure 1.
Leaf Manipulation
Step 3
To add detail and interest to your design, we will combine some leaf manipulation skills. To do so lay the aspidistra leaf face down onto the table, along the spine approx 5 cm from base cut into the leaf. Move up the spine a further 5 cm and repeat, if your leaf is long enough, do this a further time. At each cut pull the leaf so that it rips completely away giving you a lovely strand of leaf. Place these around the edge of the arrangement flowing down. You can also loop them and pin into the foam. Refer to figure 2.
Focal Flowers
To allow the flowers to stand out we will place them in lines of varieties through the arrangement rather than randomly scattering them in the design. Begin with your focal flower the Germini. The Germini will need supporting with wire. To do so place the 22 gauge wire into the head of the Gemini and wrap the wire down the stem. Place one of the Germini into the centre of your arrangement then place one either side across the width of the arrangement. Add a further two towards the base of the foam to add depth. Do the same with the two other varieties of flowers, a line of Lisianthus and a line of Tulips. Cut the heads off the Stallion Chrysanthemums and place them randomly in the arrangement to hide any gaps. Always remember the invisible string line to make sure you keep the shape of the pyramid. Refer to figure 3.
Finished Design
Step 4
To finish your arrangement add the curly wire. Remember to pull the wire apart so the coils become wider in some sections and tighter in others, this will give a lovely detail to the arrangement. If necessary cut some short pieces of foliage and place in any gaps or to conceal your workings. Refer to figure 4.
To add further detail to your design you can fill your vase with coloured deco beads, sand, marbles or some lovely natural moss.
Shopping list:
17179 Kensington vase
10728 10×22swg Stub Wire
15557 Leaf shine
17077 Cylinder Oasis
10448 Gold Spiders Web
17071 Junior bowl
10683 Pot tape Green 6mm
19073 Gold Curly wire
Flowers:
2x Double Lisianthus
5x Tulips
5x Germini
2x Stallion Chrysanthemums
Ivy
Rosemary
Lavender
Ivy berries
Aspidistra leaf
Fatsia berries.
