4:22 PM

What I Learned from Making a Haphazard Floral Arrangement

Last week on a grocery store trip I happened upon some gorgeous large-headed mums. I grabbed them because I just had to. I bought two other bunches of flowers to make an arrangement because if you bought three you saved $3 and what could I do with only one bunch of flowers anyway? I was doing this for fun and just for me so, I took a chance and chose colors that I do not traditionally put together. They were a little funky, white, pink and orange, but I was just playing around so, who cares?!

The ingredients for the arrangement included five of these large mums...

Two stems of lilies, both with multiple blooms on them, yet to open...

and a number (can't remember the exact amount) of orange sherbet-colored mini carnations. Carnations seem to be coming back into vogue and I am loving it!

I didn't buy any greens to mix into the arrangement so, I foraged around my yard for some but, the pickings were slim. My yard does not have many evergreens in it, a bad thing for a floral designer. I need to plant some boxwood and arborvitae at some point in the near future, so I do not continue to have this problem.

In my collection of vases was this silver metal tall vase. I thought the colors of the flowers

would be accented well by it.

This was the arrangement just as I made it the first day. The lilies hadn't opened much at all here.

At this point, I liked the subtlety of the colors mixed together. I thought I had chosen well.

Next, I tried to find a good spot for displaying the bouquet. I first tried the dining table but, we weren't having any company, so it really would not be appreciated in that room.

I moved the arrangement into the kitchen and placed it on a butcher block table.

I added some faux mini green apples on a dish as an accent to the arrangement.

Slowly the lilies were starting to open. The carnations and the mums were holding their own and anchoring the arrangement.

Yesterday the lilies really started to open and that is when I began to question my color choices. Is the pink too over-powering? Do the pink and the orange sherbet clash with each other?

In the end, I probably wouldn't make this arrangement for someone else. It needs a person who likes to think out-of-the-box a bit and playing with the color wheel. But, as a floral designer, I like playing around with color and flowers and I really have enjoyed having this bouquet sitting in my kitchen. I must admit, though, as the lilies have opened up wide, they may be starting to overwhelm the arrangement. I might mix pink in with the orange carnations again but, I might not pick lilies next time. I think I would like to pick a flower that doesn't start to overpower the whole arrangement as its blossoms open up fully. Roses or ranunculus might have been a good choice.

It has been almost a week since I made the arrangement, and the mums are still going strong. I still love the mini carnations. The pink lilies are lovely too, even considering the problems I have mentioned.

I would be remiss if I didn't tell you the other things I learned while making this arrangement. Five mums were not enough to truly complete it. Three or four more would have been pretty perfect. And, I clearly should have purchased greens from the beginning. The arrangement would have benefitted from more greenery. Since it rests against a wall right now, everything is good. You really do not notice its deficiencies. As I have said, this whole exercise was for fun and without taking risks you do not learn, especially when it comes to floral design.