Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming -- An Easy Floral Arrangement

It's always fun to go back to WKAR, where I used to work, so when I was invited for a special floral arranging workshop with J. Schwanke, host of "Life in Bloom," I was eager to say yes! (Cue the music!)

The program airs in 83 markets and WKAR is the producing station. I was delighted to walk into a studio filled with tables, laid out with greens. We were given our clippers (a great take-away!) and then J started his presentation (being recorded; if it streams, I'll link it!)

After some opening remarks he walked us through our arrangement, a symphony in white!

We were given three carnations, six roses, one hydrangea and one orchid, along with the greens.

He also used black oasis. I'd not seen this before but it's great because it's unobtrusive if not totally covered. He also beveled the edges, which made inserting the flowers a bit easier.

We started placing the hydrangea in the center, then laying in the tree carnations in a triangle of the oblong piece. Then we placed six roses between the carnations. He says every arrangement has what he calls "Thriller," "Spiller" and "Filler."

You could call the hydrangea the thriller or the orchid. I thought they were both pretty thrilling. The filler is the greens and I guess everything else is the spiller. I was writing and listening too fast to be sure.

We learned some fun tricks, like how to turn the aspidistra into what looked like a ribbon (the big silver leaf). (To do that, fold the large leave over to about an inch or two from the stem and poke it through the leaf, then poke the stem into the foam.) With the grasslike pieces, if you cut them short and tightly wrap them with wire (or hold them close), you can put them into the oasis all together. (I have to watch Lizzie like a hawk around those!)

He also showed us how to run the ribbon through the arrangement rather than making a bow. This is a fun trick (it requires a polyester ribbon, probably wired). Use a chopstick or something firm to put a chunk of the ribbon into the foam, then loop it into another spot on the arrangement and stick it in the same way, and again until you're satisfied with the look.

This is a perfect arrangement for the holidays. The rose is protected by thornsand represents secrets, life, blood, death and rebirth. Virgin Mary is often painted with roses and in Christianity the blooms hold a special place to remind people of what Jesus did and the promises he made.

And, besides, like the orchid, they're just beautiful.

Our arrangement also included a silver pine cone but one could easily do a very similar arrangement or insert more colorful holiday ornaments for a brighter look. Here it is at home!

I love it! (Check out J's site for more floral ideas and tips. Oh, and he was a great guy, too!)

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