Hello and welcome to our May month mid-month mood board. It’s still my birthday month, so what better time to kick this off with something very dear to me: decorating with flowers!
You may have seen in my Jo Malone London tablescaping post that I love decorating with flowers. And drumroll, you can watch me, alongside celebrity florist Simon Lycett and florist consultant Karen Barnes as a judge on The Great British Bloom Off tonight, where four very talented florists compete for the title of Bloom Off Champion. Tune in tonight at 7 pm GMT on Interflora’s very own IGTV channel.
Decorating your home with flowers reveals a lot about the lifestyle and yourself. There are so many options, from elegant simple white Lilies that to hand-picked flowers and herbs from your garden. Whatever style or size you choose, flower decorations create a little magic and make you happy within minutes. They connect us to nature and with their various shades and texture bring a touch of colour to your home and with their natural aroma add to your homes scent and air quality.
There has been scientific research to suggest flowers even lower blood pressure, reduce feelings of pain and anxiety and increase happiness as well as help with fatigue.
I’ve rounded up my 4 top tips, I have learned as a judge at the Great British Bloom Off that can help with your next flower arrangement:
1. Make sure your vases are clean. My Mum always used washing-up liquid when cleaning vases and left a little bit of the liquid in the vase before adding flowers. Vases can often harbour bacteria from previous bouquets, which can be harmful to your flowers.
Some florists even use bleach, diluted with water, which will effectively kill all harmful bacteria and won’t be harmful to flowers before rinsing the vases with fresh water.
2. When choosing the colours for your flower arrangement. Consider the colour scheme of the room where you plan on displaying the bouquet. Look for at least one dominant colour as well as one or more other colours and accents in your room.
3. Always cut your flowers at the stems in a diagonal way if you want them to last, so they can ‘drink’ the water.
The ends of the stalks effectively ‘seal up’ when they’re out of the water, so unless you cut them, they won’t be able to suck up any liquid.
A simple diagonal cut on each stalk is the best way to ensure a larger surface area for taking in water.
4. Shorter flowers will last longer than long flowers, as a shorter stalk means less distance for the water to travel to the flower, which means they’ll last longer. This makes perfect sense, right!
And best to put bigger flowers in the centre of the arrangement, thinner flowers or those that have not yet bloomed around the outside – this will make the arrangement look more natural and pretty.
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