When a friend asked if I
could come over and arrange flowers for her, I was shocked.
Why would anyone deny herself the joy of arranging flowers?
To plunge green stems topped with colorful, fragrant flowers
into a container of cool water has to be one of life's simplest
and purest of pleasures.
May brings an abundance of blooms to Northern California
gardens, so let's be done with the nonsense that flower
arranging requires special abilities. This is not to deny
the training and art that florists and others bring to an
arrangement. But who does not delight in seeing pink roses
simply plopped into a canning jar? Or red geraniums stuck
randomly in a plain white coffee mug?
Flower arranging is as old as written history, but our concept
of formal flower arranging probably came from Japan. Ikebana,
which means flowering arranging in Japanese, has caused
many to believe that there are rules for flower arranging.
For example, a basic principle of traditional ikebana is
the principle of three: The tallest branch in an arrangement,
called shin, symbolizes heaven, the medium branch (so) represents
man and the lowest branch (gyo) symbolizes earth.
I respect the use of symbolism in any art form, but if I
use three branches in a flower arrangement, it only means
I found three branches in the garden worth cutting. While
I don't follow rules for flower arrangement, I do love good
advice. And there are several hints that are worth passing
along.
-- The act of cutting flowers usually causes a callus to
form over the cut, which impedes the intake of water through
the stem. Therefore, when cutting flowers in the garden,
take a bucket that's about a third full of water and plunge
the cut stems immediately into the bucket.
-- Cut flowers early in the morning, before the dew has
dried, because later, during the heat of the day, flowers
are prone to wilting. A foggy or rainy day, however, provides
enough moisture to cut anytime.
-- Most flowers are best cut just before full bloom. If
cut while in tight bud formation, a flower may never open.
Cutting when the blossom is in too full a bloom may result
in the petals falling off soon after arranging.
-- Use a sharp knife or scissors to make an angular cut
across the stem to help flowers take in water. Woody stems,
such as lilacs, wisteria and azaleas, should be cut straight
across, then split.
-- Once inside the house, strip away foliage that would
be below the water line in the vase to minimize fouling
the water. Under running water, you can recut the flower
stems to the proper height. Set the flowers in a deep container
of water, mist the tops and place the container in a cool,
dark place for several hours. Darkness helps close the pores
(stomata), which reduces water loss. |
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