'For Love and Lunar' Florals

This Lunar New Year, we are celebrating the year of the Ox! And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner and the Lunar New Year festivities often extending through the month, I thought this would be a fun way to create a floral arrangement that celebrates both. As luck would have it, shades of red are shared color palettes for both, making this task that much easier. Beautifully reflexed tulips and black magic roses create large blooms that fill this arrangement. Using burgundy snapdragons to help build the drama, the final touch to this arrangement is a sculptural placement of the pussy willow branches. Reminiscent to cherry blossoms with a bit more shape and movement, the branches add finesse as well as a perfect way to display a single silk red pocket. I hope this year is filled with love, long life, and good fortune as we celebrate for love and lunar!

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‘For Love and lunar’ Florals

FLORALS + SUPPLIES

• Antique compote vessel with wide opening

• 1” mesh chicken wire

• Green floral tape

• 25 stems ‘Freedom’ roses

• 25 stems ‘Black Magic’ roses

• 12 stems bicolor red and white tulips

• 1 bunch of red leucadendron

• 25 stems bicolor carnations

• 1 bunch of red anemone

• 1 bunch of burgundy red snapdragons

• 1 bunch of burgundy astrantia

• 1 bunch of drumstick allium

• 2 branches of pussy willow

STEPS

1. Start with the chicken wire and create a cage structure to insert into the antique compote vessel. Mold it into the shape you would like the arrangement to follow.

2. Using green floral tape, secure the cage to the vessel. Make sure the surfaces are dry to ensure a strong adhesion for the floral tape.

3. Once the cage is prepped, add water to the vessel before arranging.

4. Using the leucadendron, create a greenery base and start to build the general shape of the arrangement using the bulk of the leucadendron.

5. Add the freedom roses to fill out the base of the arrangement and to hide chicken wire cage from view.

6. Add the snapdragon to create movement and height to the arrangement. For this compote, I wanted one side of the arrangement to reach up for a more organic shape.

7. Layer in the black magic roses, bicolor carnations and astrantia, giving depth and texture to the arrangement. I like to reflex the black magic roses to open up their blooms and reveal the alluring interior color of the petals.

8. Reflex the tulip petals and layer in the tulips, allium, and anemone as focal floral elements to the arrangement.

9. For the final element, arrange the branches of the pussy willow to create the perfect touch of movement and scale. Add a silk red pocket hanging from the pussy willow for the finish.