A LESSON IN MECHANICS

 

Hello all,

As arrangements go, the one in the photograph, above, is quite large. The urn itself stands a metre tall. I had used it previously for a Christmas arrangement using pine and giant dahlias. 

The arrangement started with Sam, once again, risking life and limb by climbing the ladder to cut the three flowers of the strelitzia nicolai.

Once, safely, on the ground the flowers needed to be prepared by removing dead petals and scraping away the sap that dries on the outside of the 'beak' and looks unsightly. I, then, polished the 'beak' part with an oily cloth to give it a shine but also to bring out its dark green colour.

Before

After

So, having prepared the flowers, I thought I'd give you an explanation of how I managed to use such a big urn. Firstly, I found a plastic bucket that fit snugly in the 'neck' of the urn and cut off the excess, leaving a small piece to act as a handle. I, then, sprayed the edges of the bucket black so as not to show the bright green through the arrangement. I pierced holes and threaded strong wire in a cross pattern just like a cross bar. 

This facilitated the placement of the heavy strelitzia nicolai flowers and stopped them from tipping forward due to the weight.

Once the flowers were in place, I was able to fit in between them the leaves of the same plant. I had, however, cut the leaves down because they are far too big to be used whole. From go to whoa it took me over two hours, not including the work I had done previously on the urn.

The berries in the arrangement, below, are from the plant 'Arum Italicum pictum', the leaves of which have died down and only the stems with the berries remain. I love them at this stage, before all the berries turn red. I wanted to display them the way they grow but I did add some squigly grass as a contrasting element.

A couple of years ago my sister-in-law, Betty gave me a pot of pineapple lilies (Eucomis pallidiflora subs. pole-evansii). This year they produced three flowers, two of which I used in the arrangement, below. I wish I had a way to share their delicious fragrance.The leaves are from the dwarf, variegated iris japonica.

The little container in the photograph, below, looks quite unremarkable, however it has an ingenious feature. In the second photograph you'll notice a protrusion on its underside. This created a hole inside the vase, so that a stem that is inserted there stays perfectly upright. If, like me, you've struggled to keep your material upright in containers that have a small opening, you'll appreciate this little feature. I would like to shake the hand of the person who created it.

Bye for now,

Emily