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How to Create a Stunning Floral Arrangement

Brighten up your home, office or event with a bouquet of posies

It’s fair to say Australians love flowers.

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Between 27-31 March, Over 100,000 visitors will be visiting The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens when they come alive for The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

Whether you love fresh flowers, dried flowers or even the water-saving artificial kind, it’s handy to know how to create a flower arrangement that will brighten up your home.

We spoke to some of Australia’s floristry experts to bring you the lowdown on how to create an arrangement you’ll love.

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Creating a good arrangement

According to Emma from Flawless Flowers in Prahran Market, Melbourne, “A good floral arrangement is like a well designed room in your home, it’s often what’s not there that makes all the difference,” she says.

“When everything has enough space to be noticed, each piece is special. A great floral arrangement will have ingredients with a similar life span, so it can be enjoyed as it was designed for the life of the bouquet.”

How to pick the freshest flowers

Ebony Andrews of Flowers Across Sydney says the way to pick the freshest flowers is to look for clean stems and foliage. “You can often pick fresh flowers from their less fresh cousins by smell; a fresh flower shouldn’t emit any odour.”

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“Flowers are all different so to ensure freshness, you’re looking for less damage on the blooms themselves and buds.”

Using feature flowers

Bouquets don’t have to be uniform or symmetrical,” says Nadina Hughes, Chief Flower Officer at Flowers Across Melbourne. We’re moving away from that structured look and into something more natural, with one or two ‘feature flowers’ that dominate and add a touch of gravitas.”

She adds that for a wedding bouquet, brides could look at including one or two proteas, peony roses, disbud chrysanthemums, or lilies.

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Bright Bouquets

“Avoiding clashing colours is a main consideration,” says Andrews. “In order to arrange a stunning mixed bright bouquet, you want to mix deep colours with brighter shades.

This creates an implied depth to the arrangements and the deeper shades make the bright ones pop more!”

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DIY pedestal arrangement tutorial

Learn how to create a stunning pedestal arrangement: perfect for placing in large hallways, next to the alter at weddings and funerals, or as a striking display at a community or church function.

Creating a crescent moon effect

“A good floral arrangement has depth and a good shape.” adds Andrews. “Whether you’re making a traditional posy or a more modern arrangement, shape is key.”

“If making a beautiful rounded posy you want to ensure that it isn’t flat on top. If making a crescent moon shaped arrangement, you want extended curves, not flat edges.”

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Simple floral bouquet

Some of the most outstanding bouquets are the simple ones. Buy a bunch or two of unusual flowers, like these white lipped, purple tulips and let the blooms speak for themselves.

You can also create a beautiful bouquet using artificial flowers by following the same principles you’d use for fresh cut blooms.

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Keep it looking natural

Kim Treherne-Cardillo is the director of Melbourne Flower School and will be hosting floral workshops at the Melbourne Flower Show. 

“The current trend in floral design is beautiful blooms and foliage with loads of texture arranged naturally into hand tied bouquets,” says Treherne-Cardillo. “Imagine taking a walk in the garden and picking your blooms, adding them one by one to your hand,” she says.

Once picked, place the blooms straight into a glass vase for a unique table display.

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Native flowers

“Native flowers give the ‘wow factor’, and are also environmentally conscious as they’re easier to grow in our climes and are therefore most cost-effective to boot,” says Rob Lambert, CEO of Flowers Across Melbourne.

“From large-headed proteas which can often last over a month to eucalyptus, which has a great aroma, natives have really shot up the list this year in popularity.”

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Tropical flower arrangement tutorial

In Australia we’re lucky to have an abundance of native, tropical flowers. This video shows you how to place tall stem tropical flowers with plenty of foliage to create an eye-catching arrangement for your home.

White posies

The most common colour for funeral flowers is white but it’s also often used for wedding bouquets. “White symbolises sympathy and purity,” says Andrews. “White roses are the ultimate symbol of spirituality, purity and innocence. 

In some Asian cultures, particularly for funerals, yellow chrysanthemums are appreciated, however white is mainly the colour of bereavement.”

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The most popular flower in 2018

Sunflowers were at the top of the 2018 list of flower purchases, and this daisy and sunflower placement gives what Lambert calls a meadow-esque look.

The vibrant yellow of the sunflower makes it an ideal gift to cheer a friend or family member up,” he says. Paired with daisies, and arranged in a planter box, they make a stunning flower display.

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Stick to roses

“On Valentine’s Day we usually send out over 15,000 stems of roses,” says Lambert. “The traditional red rose and rainbow roses, are still firmly in the top ten.”

Table flower arrangements

Thinking of brightening up your table with a lovely array of mixed flowers? “Abundance is the key to success with capturing the feeling of a meadow,” says Lambert. He suggests putting an emphasis on roses, snapdragons, lilies, stock, hydrangea, hypericum and alstroemeria.

To make an Insta-worthy table placement, strategically place some green foliage around the outside of large box and fill the inside with clusters of complimentary colours. Use a combination of large and small flowers for an elegant effect.

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Keep it seasonal

“Despite the flood of imported flowers onto the Australian market, the most popular floral arrangements, made by real florists, feature seasonal local produce,” says Emma Whiting from Flawless Flowers.

“Some of our most popular lines are only at their best for three weeks of the year, and they will feature heavily in every bunch made in that moment,” she adds. Like the Waratah flower (shown above) which blooms over a 4-6 week period in spring. 

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Ikebana

Traditionally placed in the alcove of a home, the ancient art of Ikebana has made its way into Western floral art.

If you want to learn more about how to create this style of simple but stunning Japanese flower arrangement, Naohiro Kasuya will be showcasing a spectacular Ikebana installation, at the Melbourne Flower Show this year.

Want to learn the art of flower arranging?

The Flower School in Brisbane is where Whiting sends her staff. “They produce highly skilled florists and have a very practical programme,” she says.

Marjorie Milner College offers short courses to diploma in floristry. “It has a wonderful reputation and is great for both apprenticeship training and full time study in Melbourne. It’s still a second generation family run institution, but world a world recognised design course,” says Whiting.

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Melbourne Flower School has posy perfection classes, garden bowl workshops and a host of in-depth courses for anyone interested in DIY flower arrangement.

Pearsons School of Floristry in Sydney run short courses as well as Cert III for those who want to pursue floristry as a career. 

Alternatively, check your local community college for short, flower arranging workshops.

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