365 Days of Flowers, Day 1...Wild Roses

Studying for my National Certified Florist Exam inspired me to start this series of flower arrangements from my garden.  I have been reading about the Victorian Age where flowers were arranged for the home each week, using flowers they grew in their garden.  The Victorian period was named for Queen Victoria, who ruled in England from 1837 to 1901. 

Day 1 is tough, because I'm thinking where do I begin?

Looking outside my window, I see this huge, overgrown monstrosity of a wild rose bush.  I am not even sure where it came from, but I suspect it is a reincarnation of a wild rose bush that I planted nearby, and thought was dead...only to sprout up a few feet away from the original plant.

 This plant has very small thorns that can be pokey, so wear gloves to avoid the sharps.  I used my cutting shears to clip off a few blooms directly into this water filled bowl.

 Next I prepared my container by laying a grid on top of it with clear floral tape.  Here are the tools I used, plus a picture of the vase with tape.  You can use clear tape, if you do not have clear floral tape. 

The vase is a yard sale find, and I think it's original purpose was to be used as a serving dish for ice cream or fruit.  It is best not to use scissors to cut your flowers because they can crush the stem cells of the flower, which would inhibit water intake.  The scissors pictured here were used to cut the tape. Some florists use knives only to cut their flowers, so that also would be a good option for you to cut your flowers.

Next, I trimmed about half of the foilage off of the flowers and placed them into the vase.  I started with a layer of low flowers, and then added a few taller ones for interest, and so the arrangement did not look quite so flat.

Finished!  Now who can I give this too?  Maybe I'll keep it on my table for dinner, wouldn't these look lovely with three in a row on a long table set for an informal outdoor dinner or party.  A beautifully dainty and lovely arrangement from that huge overgrown bush...who would have guessed!

Enjoy!  Try this arrangement, with any small flower you have growing at home, and let me know how it turned out, I would love to hear from you!