This hip piece of living art will attract a new cadre of youthful consumers and foster an appreciation for floral design among them.

Spray paint a picture frame – size and shape of your choice – with a color of your choice. Drill pilot holes into the backside of the frame, around the opening. Screw short screws into the pilot holes to extend slightly above the frame surface. Cut a piece of silver floral mesh to be slightly larger than the opening in the frame. Lay the floral mesh over the opening, with the edges outside the screws, so that it is flat and tight.

Starting by looping silver metallic wire around one screw, create a series of haphazard crisscrossing diagonal lines of silver wire that are in opposition to the vertical and horizontal lines of the floral mesh. Do this by wrapping the wire around one screw, then across to another, and another, in a random manner, until you have a pattern of angular silver wire lines that is visually pleasing to you.

Wrap the roots of a miniature Phalaenopsis orchid plant with damp peat moss or sheet moss, and mold it into ball.

Wrap the moss-covered root ball (kokedama) with silver metallic wire, in a random pattern.

Repeat the kokedama process with a 4-inch Echeveria plant. Also create two wire-wrapped moss orbs of different sizes (with no plants).

Attach stems of flocked curly willow, in various lengths and sizes, to the front of the frame by wiring the stems in a random formation – two or three stems at a time – to the wire-grid background with silver metallic wire.

Wire the orchid and succulent kokedamas, along with the two moss orbs and a rattan orb, to the wire-grid background with silver metallic wire.

Where is it written that a framed work of art has to involve a canvas and paints? With this innovative design idea, floral designer Annie Chen, AIFD, demonstrates how to create astounding wall art featuring living plants. For this composition, she chose a miniature Phalaenopsis orchid and a 4-inch Echeveria, but the kokedama technique she demonstrates is applicable to many other types of plants, making this living-art concept an extremely versatile one. Of particular interest to consumers will be the fact that with proper simple care, framed botanical art pieces like this can be quite long-lasting. Imagine, original art for less than a C-note!

For more information on creating kokedamas, visit bit.ly/FRkokedama.