4 guidelines to arranging flowers at home

By MICHELE BESCHEN
Scripps Howard News Service

Flower arranging can be an intimidating task. As far as I'm concerned, that is unjustified because there are no rules in this or any other creative exercise -- only guidelines.

I share these helpful tips to ensure ease, success and longevity with your arrangement efforts.

Gathering and Conditioning
Allow yourself a day in advance of arranging to condition the stems. Gather your stems in the morning after the dew has left.

Select an interesting assortment of blooms and filler like herbs, branches and other greenery.

Use sharp shears and cut at an angle just above a budding node or leaf to promote new growth.

Immediately place in a clean bucket of fresh tepid water.

Once gathered, cut the stems again under water and place in another bucket of clean tepid water.

Water additives such as drops of tonic water, crushed aspirin, lemon-lime soda, bleach or store-bought floral preservatives can also be used.

If you have collected woody stems, snip up into the bottom of the stem and smash with a hammer to encourage drinking.

If you have collected hollow stems that release a milky substance when they're cut, seal the nutrients into the stem by placing the tip in boiling water or over a candle flame for 10 seconds. Set your bucket in a cool, shady place overnight.

This allows stems to fully hydrate and rest, which will give them a longer vase life.

The Mechanics
You can create your arrangement in any sort of container that holds water.

Start collecting various-sized flower frogs to hold your stems in place. Use floral clay as your adhesive.
 
Wet floral foam is another wonderful product to use with larger-sized arrangements. Soak thoroughly and then cut or stack to size and use anchor tape to hold in place.

If you will be arranging with larger stems, place chicken wire over the foam for added stability.

Floral picks and wire are helpful with some of the manipulation and placement of stems.
 
A sharp knife or shears is necessary to trim the stems again before arranging in containers.

Manipulation
As my mother always says, don't be afraid to handle and play with the different stems.
 
One of the easiest ways to create an arrangement is to do the arrangement in your hand, combining selected stems at desired heights.

Snip the stems again as you're holding and place snugly in a vase of fresh tepid water. Experiment with the different ways to manipulate your stems for unique looks.

Small-gauge floral wire can be inserted through the head of a flower (like a daisy) and down into the stem to give it flexibility and allow you to gently bend or curl it.

Leaves and grasses can be folded and rolled. Use floral tape to wrap or secure. Poke the stems of some blooms through the middle of leaves to create interesting looks.

Just be sure everything will have access to water. Use pictures of arrangements from books and magazines as inspiration.

Arrange so that it is pleasing to your eye, that there is the desired balance and always try to disguise the mechanics you're using with filler and leaves. The style of the arrangement is YOURS!

Maintenance and Disposal
The longer your stems can drink in fresh water, the better. For your arrangements that are simply placed in vases, it's a good idea to snip your stems about half an inch every few days and change the water.
 
Applying a light mist of water to foliage is also helpful.

For arrangements in floral foam and the like, it isn't practical to remove and rearrange every few days, so just make sure the foam stays wet and spray the foliage with a light water mist.

One or two dead stems doesn't mean the entire arrangement is dead; just remove the stems that have lost their luster and replace, if desired.
 
When it's time to retire the foliage completely, dispose of things in the compost bin so they can once again be beneficial in your gardens.

You can save the fallen petals and dry them for use in handcrafted potpourri mixes and sachets.

(Visit Michele Beschen at http://www.couragetocreate.com or http://www.borganic.net or contact her via e-mail at Michele(at)couragetocreate.com)