Flower arrangement for beginners

By Yun Suh-young

To brighten up the atmosphere of your home, the easiest way to bring up the mood is to decorate with flowers.

The most easy-to-follow method is the flower vase arrangement.

Depending on the kind of vase, the entire mood can change drastically, according to Kim Shin-young, a florist at Marylebone Flower Shop in Yeonnam-dong, Seoul. Kim studied abroad at Jane Packer and Paula Pryke academies, two of the most famous flower studios in the world.

For people who have no experience in arranging flowers, this reporter kindly asked Kim for a flower arrangement 101 lesson to share with W readers.

Below are some basic tips from Kim on how to arrange flowers in a vase.

For the demonstration lesson, tulip, lisianthus, scabiosa oxford, eucalyptus “pablo,” bridal wreath, rice flowers and veronica were used.

What to take note of before starting:

1) Do not put water in the vase before placing flowers

-> Water comes last after the arrangement is complete. This is because the arrangement can change as it goes and there’s risk of spilling water.

2) Stand up while you arrange

-> This is because you need to see the entire work from a 360 degree view. If you sit down and focus on only one side, the finished product will look lopsided.

3) When cutting stems, cut diagonally

-> This allows the flower to absorb more water due to the greater surface area. For thin flowers, it is okay to cut straight.

Flower arrangement 101:

1) Preparation

Begin by dividing sections in the vase with an oasis tape (green tape specially used for flower arrangements). If you don’t have oasis tape, you can use ordinary scotch tape.

Place a total of four tapes, two vertically and two horizontally, to create nine sections.

2) Outlining

Outlining is the spadework done before the actual flower arrangement. This is usually done with green plants such as eucalyptus.

Cut the eucalyptus to the same height of the vase. Place one eucalyptus per section. Before placing them in the vase, remove leaves from the bottom half section of the stem. This is called “conditioning.” Conditioning is important in vase arrangements because if this is not done, the flower decays quickly.

3) Arranging main flowers

Usually main flowers used for arrangements are roses but a variety of other flowers can also be used. Here, tulip and scabiosa oxford are used as main flowers and lisianthus as sub-main.

Place four tulips in the four outside corners, one scabiosa in the center and four scabiosas in the remaining four sections, facing the exterior. Place some lisianthus in between the spaces.

When cutting the flowers, cut them to the height of the vase.

4) Filling

Filling is the most important part and which takes most time. Filling is done with subsidiary materials to create the overall form. Use eucalyptus, rice flowers and bridal wreath to fill in the spaces in between the flowers. To give some accent, place two veronicas for emphasis.

5) Completion

When the arrangement is done, pour water into the space in between the flowers and fill up the vase. Tear out the oasis tape.

*Extra tips:

-How to create a flower bouquet

If you want to make a flower bouquet, follow the above steps required for vase arrangement except the water adding part. When the arrangement is done, tear the oasis tape and pluck out the flowers all at once. Tie them up with a string and wrap them in wrapping paper. When wrapping, cut the wrapping paper in four equal-sized squares or rectangles depending on the shape you want. Place two first to wrap the flower bundle and add two more papers to give more shape.

Flowers used often in spring:

Tulip, ranunculus, lisianthus and bridal wreath (available from March through May and are used often in weddings)