10 Tips and Tricks of Professional Florists and Floral Designers

Designing your own arrangements can be very rewarding but a few tips and tricks learned from years of experience (and learning from, er, mistakes) can help you have an even more enjoyable do it yourself experience.

Silk Flowers/Permanent Botanicals

Are you designing outdoor arrangements? Avoid paper, latex, and dried flowers - moisture and sunlight can quickly damage or destroy them. Use dried sticks and sturdy artificial flowers and other permanent botanicals. A good coat of Design Master Dresden Clear Glaze ™ or Super Sealer ™ works wonderfully to keep weather out and color in. Any clear, waterproof lacquer spray should do the job. Sand, cinder block, gravel, or plaster can all weigh down outdoor arrangements and keep your creations from tipping over in the wind. A great way to both secure your design materials and prevent them from blowing away is to partially fill your container with moistened play sand topped with wet plaster of Paris mixed according to the package directions. It's easy to move and position your flowers and once it dries your arrangement with be strong and stable and everything will stay put. A few drops of food coloring added to the Plaster during mixing can create a colored plaster. Moss, sand, stones, or bark can also be laid atop the wet plaster to camouflage it.

Scotch Guard ™ spray does a fabulous job keeping artificial flowers bright and intact. Simply follow the directions on the can, applying several coats.

If your artificial creation gets dusty a hair dryer set on "cool" or "no heat" makes a fabulous duster for silk plants and arrangements. The hairdryer will drive any loose dust off of most artificial plants. You may want to do this outside to avoid blowing dust around your home. For larger plants and arrangements you can use a Swiffer ™ duster or other static charge duster to "sucks" dust right off silk flowers and leaves.

Fresh Flowers

Have your fresh flowers gone limp on their trip to your home? Flowers also drink through their tops as well as through their stems. Give them a fresh cut and lay them down in lukewarm water so the whole flower is submerged.