Flower arranging

Pictured are spring flowers arranged in multiple vases placed along a ivy branch.

Spring is almost here. In fact some early spring flowers are already in bloom. We like to bring them indoors as cut flowers to brighten up the house.

One arrangement we made this week was a grouping of vases down the center of our dining room table. This type of arrangement can also be used to decorate a fireplace mantel.

When hosting a buffet luncheon or party this type of arrangement is good for the center of the table where the food will be served from. The varying heights of the different vases will balance out the different serving dishes that are place on either side of it.

We started with a silk ivy vine going down the center of the table lengthwise for our arrangement. Then we placed seven different sized vases along the vine, some in front and some behind it. The vases are all different sizes and shapes but all are narrow in width.

Our vases are all clear glass but other types can be used. Other choices may be all metal such as gold, silver and bronze or all milk glass. For a country look canning jars would be a good choice to use in place of vases.

It doesn’t take a lot of flowers for this kind of arrangement. The flowers we chose for our arrangement included six camellias, three daffodils, three stems of narcissus and a few branches of crabapple blossoms. This gives it a simple and clean look. More flowers can be used depending on the desired effect and style to fit with the room.

Other things can be added to fill out the arrangement such as figurines or other ordainments placed along the ivy at the bottom. A scarf or wired ribbon can also be placed with the ivy between the vases.

For fresh flowers the water should be changed everyday to keep it from looking cloudy. If using silk flowers colored sand can be used in the vases to hold the flowers in place and also add color to the arrangement. When using glass vases the sand also helps keep the glass from looking cloudy, especially if the arrangement is to left in place for a period of time.

For other arrangement ideas there are classes offered at businesses such as House of Design in Red Bluff and at Michaels Stores in Redding and Chico. Ideas can also be found in magazines and on the internet.

We have several silk flower arrangements that we change at least seasonal. Sometimes we change them more often for special occasions or parties. When the flowers are in bloom we try to use them in arrangements around the house also.

For the seasons where the flowers are scarce, using cuttings from evergreen plants work well as decoration. Dried flowers are a good choice to use during the fall months. All arrangements can be kept looking fresh by regularly rearranging them to go along with the seasons of the year.