A quick pick of a bunch of gladiolas helps create a last-minute centerpiece.
Its 5:00 PM and your dinner guests are due in an hour.
You put the finishing touches on the table when you realize something’s missing. Oh no! There’s no centerpiece!
What can you do at the last minute? Well, if you’re lucky enough to have a few things around, like flowers and filler material, you can make a nice flower arrangement on the fly.
Here’s one that Linda Nelson, Vice President of the National Garden Clubs invented.
Step 1: Selection
- Five pieces of linear material: gladiolas, snapdragons, long pointy leaves, branches, etc.
- Seven pieces of round flower forms: roses, mums, carnations, etc.
- Five to six pieces of small leafy filler material: azalea, boxwood or heathers.
Step 2: Preparation
- Cut a piece of oasis floral foam to fit snuggly into the container and 1½ “ above the opening; soak in water for an hour.
- Cut the linear material: longest is 1½ times the height plus width of the container; next two pieces are slightly shorter; fourth piece is ¾ as high as the longest; fifth piece is ¾ as high as the fourth.
- Cut the round flowers: the smallest size slightly taller than the fourth piece of line material, the rest in a gradual descent of lengths with the least-open flowers the tallest and the most-open flowers the shortest.
- Cut the filler material in various lengths.
Step 3: Placement
- Group the three longest pieces of line material together in the center of the oasis foam. Place the fourth piece of line material to the left of the grouping and lean slightly to the outside; place the fifth to the right and lean slightly forward.
- Place the longest flower in front of the center line material grouping. Place one flower in the back for depth, then place the rest of the flowers to the left and right descending to the rim.
- Use the filler material to fill in as well as to add depth by placing toward the back, the sides and the front, “spilling” over the container.
