Create A Native Bouquet for your Valentine

~ a sweet idea for a homemade Valentine’s Day gift ~

Imagine what you can create with what naturally surrounds you. A gift truely from the heart.

Offering flowers as a symbol of love is one of the oldest and sincerest expressions of affection.

Our dear friend Alice from @shes_a_wildflower shares some flower picking and arranging tips for creating your own posy.

Alice lives next door to our home town in Australia and works with locally grown, seasonal and unique flowers in her stunning arrangements.

She approaches her work with so much love both for the environment where the flowers come from and for the person she is designing the arrangement for.

We are so inspired by the unique beauty possible with every posy and the beautiful gift of love they hold.

Enjoy getting creative and sharing with your loved ones this Valentine’s Day.

TIPS ON PICKING FLOWERS

Pick your flowers first thing in the morning. Flowers can wilt in the heat of the day and in the sunlight so it is best to pick when it is cool and fresh.

Have a bucket of water with you so you can place your stems in to water straightaway.

Pick different sizes, shapes and forms of flowers for variation.
Allow textural elements like grasses that will add interest to your arrangement.
Return your flowers to a cool and dark room after picking, keep them out of direct sunlight.

HOW TO ARRANGE A SIMPLE ORGANIC STYLE POSY

Learning how to arrange a posy is best taught by demonstration, however below are basic tips to get you started:

Before arranging your flowers remove any foliage from the stems that will be below the water line to prevent bacterial growth.

Begin with a good foliage base by crossing your stems and turning your foliage as you place a new stem to create the structure.

Add your “secondary flowers” by threading them through the foliage base, continue to turn the stems in your hand for an even distribution. Depending on the style you are going for you may like to place the flowers in a pattern, or to create dominance and a focal point in your bouquet you may like to group some of the flowers together like I have in my posy.

Now add in your “focal flowers” - these are generally the more dominant or larger flowers that you want to showcase, allow them the space and have their moment to show off.

Lastly add any “floaty flowers” (these are flowers/foliage/grasses that have a long stem and have movement if a breeze was to go through them) I have used a mix of dried grass as it compliments the native flowers and adds texture. Floating flowers and foliage add interest and helps to create a more organic arrangement rather than a perfect dome.