A Modern Arrangement

What you need:

• Lilacs bunch or 2 bunches as shown

• Moon bowl vase glass 10.25"H x 10.25 W x 3.25”D

• 2 hands full of light blue sea glass  (purchase similar here)

Shown:

• Amethyst Crystal 10.75”H x 7”W x 3.25 D

Supplies Used:

• 1 packet of floral food (purchase here)

• Corona bypass pruning shears (found here)

Steps: 3

Flower Cost:  $15.00 1 bunch or $30.00 2 bunches (as shown)

Rated: Easy Arrangement

It is lilac season. We even get them here at the farmers’ market in Southern California. I think they bring them down from the mountains. Lilacs need “chill hours” to bloom. Cold winters help them. The fragrance of lilacs is intoxicating. They are a little fragile and subject to wilting. You need to bring them directly home, no stopping at three or four stores, and cut the stems at a long sharp angle. They have a woody stem, so you want them to absorb as much water as possible. The sharp long cut helps them quickly drink up and distribute water. Some people suggest lightly taping the stem with a hammer two or three inches up from the bottom. I do not endorse this because it can crush vascular tubes in the stem. After cutting the stems, put the lilacs into luke-warm water. When flowers are cut, tiny air bubbles clog the water tubes in the stems. Warm water reduces surface tension in the stem and helps to clear these clogs. This also makes the stems more permeable and helps reopen microscopic pathways so the water can move up the stem. Luke-warm water makes it easier for the flower to absorb and distribute water. These stems were cut at 16.5” so I did not take any off from the length, I just gave each stem a sharp angled cut.

When you put your blue glass into the vase, lower it down gently in a baggie, and then carefully empty it out. Don’t just dump it down from the top. Glass could fly up or some glass could crack and you wouldn’t want that.

When adding the flowers to the vase, chose two with blooms that angle outwards and place one on each side, keeping the stems going straight down and anchoring them into the blue glass. Evenly distribute your first bunch of lilacs then add the second, keeping any taller ones for the middle. You may even have to just raise the stem a half an inch or so out of the blue glass to give some height to the center of the arrangement. For this arrangement, keep all the stems going straight down into the blue glass and not at an angle. Some stems will have slight curves to them and the glass and water will amplify that and give the stems a kind of wavy look. This is good, ha-ha! It makes it look kind of like an Impressionist painting.

This arrangement was paired in the final photo with a giant natural Amethyst Crystal that was owned by Ed Parker, Father of American Karate. Ed Parker was Elvis’s karate instructor as well as being his good friend. This crystal was given to me by his daughter and my good friend, Darlene. I always think of both of them when I see it.