Last week, while our team members were at the Florida State Florists' Association Design Summit, they took a detour to visit one of our great member florist, Tim Ryan of Botaniq in Santa Rosa Beach Florida. Tim was in the middle of teaching a Butterfly Garden Workshop right there at his flower shop! You might be surprised at all the things local florists are doing these days to bring back the love of flowers in their community.
This isn't Tim's first workshop, he's done: fresh cut flower arranging, orchid gardens, terrariums and more! Guests get together and learn what it takes to create a beautiful floral designs and gardens, as well as the techniques it takes to take care of them all. For the butterfly garden, guests will put together a beautiful planter filled with tasty plants for butterflies. Tim shows his workshop guests how to take their planter to the next level by adding river cane as a trellis. A simple technique that adds big impact!
The iconic, casket flower arrangement has become a staple in our funeral flower traditions. Open or closed casket, the large spray of lush flowers and foliage has a way of calming our spirits in a time of loss. Beautiful flowers have a way of enhancing the atmosphere at somber events. Additionally, it gives guests something to talk about that is comforting and uplifting.
But what if there is no casket?
What if the deceased chose to be cremated, can you use flowers on a funeral urn? Absolutely! Florists everywhere are creating magnificent floral displays for funeral urns that are equally as impressive as the traditional casket spray.
Cremation flowers can be personalized to celebrate the life of the departed by using the their favorite flowers and colors. Incorporate favorite hobbies and pastimes into your flowers. If they were an avid gardener or loved to fish, use some of their equipment within the flowers to better represent them. Treat flowers for cremation urns just the same as you would in planning for casket flowers.
Below, Robbin Yelverton of Blumz… by JR Designs in Detroit & Ferndale MI walks us through creating flowers for cremation urns.
Just a few weeks ago, we featured a story about the new trend, floral pocket squares. Many wedding florists are offering the floral pocket squares as an alternative to boutonnieres. Floral pocket squares are a great look for weddings, proms, and special events. Here are two great styles to try today!
How To Make A Floral Pocket Square
To make your pocket square, you will need:
Craft Foam
Scissors
Floral Glue
Floral Design Elements (flowers, leaves, whatever you would like to use to design your pocket square)
To make the pocket square:
Cut your craft foam length way to fit into your pocket. This should leave about 3 inches for designing.
Next, plan your design by laying your floral design elements in the places you are planning to put them. This way you can judge if you need more flowers, foliage, etc.
Begin to slowly glue down your design elements making sure to cover all the way to the edges of your craft foam.
Once you are finished with your design, insert the newly-made pocket square into the suit jacket pocket and determine how much you need to trim off the bottom.
Trim the bottom of your pocket square to fit inside the pocket.
Watch my video above for detailed instruction!
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This post is brought to you by local New York florists.
Not in New York NY? Use Flower Shop Network's handy directory of real local florists to find a florist near you!
While I was at the AIFD Southern Conference, I noticed many designers using weaving techniques and other intricately designed tricks with their leaves. Above you see a leaf wrapped in copper wire and spiraling up three, straight Equisetum. This is a great visual effect that gives much needed movement to an otherwise static design.
Since the dawn of floral design, florists have been trying new techniques for enhancing simple, clear glass vases. Flower Shop Network's lead floral designer, Regina Berryman AIFD AAF, shows a floral design technique that has grown in popularity. In this video, Regina explains how to use aspidistra inside a glass vase to enhance the look and appeal of your flower arrangements. Don't forget to view the gallery below the video to see floral arrangements that use this technique.
Member florists: see information below about accessing these videos through your FSNf2f system.
Curly Willow! Florists have been turned on to this fantastic foliage for ages, but its popularity has taken off in recent months. In the video below, Flower Shop Network explains how to use curly willow inside the vase to enhance the look and appeal of your flower arrangements. Don't forget to view the gallery below the video to see floral arrangements that use this technique.
Member florists: see information below about accessing these videos through your FSNf2f system.
Last week, while our team members were at the Florida State Florists' Association Design Summit, they took a detour to visit one of our great member florist, Tim Ryan of Botaniq in Santa Rosa Beach Florida. Tim was in the middle of teaching a Butterfly Garden Workshop right there at his flower shop! You might be surprised at all the things local florists are doing these days to bring back the love of flowers in their community.
