Long, Tall, Short or Small

Walking around London on a Monday morning the streets are lined with trucks delivering flower arrangements to offices, restaurants, bars and hotels up and down the city. Whether classic or contemporary, large or small, nothing is more welcoming than a beautiful, creative and interesting display of flowers when you walk in to a building or home.

I had my first lesson in tall vase arrangements a few weeks ago, using elegant long stems of willow, aspidistra, snapdragon, eucalyptus and anthirium. The arrangement is a front facing design, perfect for a console table or sideboard. The tricky bit was to ensure it remained balanced and would not fall forward with the weight of the flowers at the front of the display. 

We started with the tall stems of willow to give us our line about 2 times the height of the vase. The snapdragon's were next, followed by the eucalyptus leaves (including some at the back to provide balance). The aspidistra leaves were twisted and folded to form a base layer along the neck of the vase, and the anthirium provided the final focal point at the front of the display.  I love the contemporary shape of the anthirium and the willow together.

Unfortunately our flowers would have been too awkward to carry home on the tube so we re-used our flowers to make a long, low table arrangement. Starting with an oval shaped base, we created our outline using the aspidistra leaves and eucalyptus. Placing the snapdragon at either end aswell as dotting them through the centre is a great way to use colour to draw the eye along the length of the display and set the height. The smooth dome shape was determined by the addition of roses and we finished off by grouping the anthirium at opposite corners for impact. 

Once I got my flowers home I topped up the oasis with water. They lasted over two weeks and looked fab as the gorgeous roses opened up further filling out the space. Would I be able to do it again though, that's the question!