An imaginative seasonal design inspired by—of all things—a boiling pot of soup.
Floral design, photos and text by Iuliia Prokhorova, CFD, TMF
I created this arrangement of vegetables to have a spring vibe, but you can create a similar design for any time of the year by choosing seasonal vegetables and varying the colors .
Spring is traditionally associated with fresh green sprouts, so I opted for daikon radishes, with leafy green tops, and a few heads of bok choy and romaine lettuce, all arranged in a small soup pot. I then selected flowers similarly appropriate flowers, vines and foliages (colors and seasonality), which I placed into water tubes, and arranged to appear as if they are growing naturally and wildly from the pot. Finally, to ensure that the soup pot becomes a complete and reusable gift, I secured the lid into the design; however, when creating this design as a centerpiece, including the lid would be optional.
STEP BY STEP
Step 1
Choose an appropriate container. I chose a small soup pot, but you can use any type of pot found in a kitchen (a colander would also be fun!).
Step 2
Fill the soup pot with daikon radishes, standing vertically, along with a few heads of bok choy. I secured the radishes and bok choy into the pot with miniature pin frogs, but you can simply add more radishes and heads of bok choy until they are tight in the pot. You can also use other root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, etc.
Step 3
Insert wood picks (or thick bamboo skewers) into the bases of several heads of bok choy and romaine lettuce. Arrange the heads to establish the framework of the design by inserting the protruding ends of the wood picks or skewers into the bases of radishes. Place stems of spiral bamboo to create further dimension and movement.
Step 4
Fill 4-inch water tubes with flower food solution, and insert the stems of flowers, vines and foliages into the filled tubes. Arrange the fresh botanicals into the design by wedging the water tubes securely between the radishes and heads of bok choy in the soup pot. Next, weave blades of bear grass, to create a textural element, and place it into the design.
Step 5
Tape four bundles of 20-gauge wire (four wires per bundle) with stem wrap, to create “legs” for securing the soup pot lid into the design. Attach the taped wire bundles to the lid, securing them to the lid with floral clay. Cover the floral clay and wire with vines and leaves. Place the wired lid into the design.
MATERIALS
BOTANICALS
• Delphinium Pacific Hybrid (larkspur, bee Delphinium)
• Eustoma grandiflorum/Lisianthus russellianus (prairie gentian)
• Campanula medium (Canterbury bells)
• Hippeastrum spp. (amaryllis, Barbados lily)
• Lathyrus odoratus (sweet pea)
• Clematis texensis (scarlet leather flower, Texas Clematis)
• Jasminum officinale (poet’s jasmine, poet’s jessamine)
• Hedera helix ‘Curly Locks’ (ruffle-edge English ivy)
• Syngonium podophyllum (arrowhead vine)
• Xerophyllum tenax (bear grass, elk grass, Indian basket grass)
• Dracaena sanderiana (spiral bamboo, curly bamboo, lucky bamboo)
• Raphanus sativus ‘Longipinnatus’ (daikon radish, Japanese radish, Chinese radish, winter radish, white radish)
• Brassica rapa Chinensis Group (bok choy, pak choi, Chinese cabbage, Chinese mustard, mustard cabbage)
• Lactuca sativa var. longifolia (romaine lettuce, cos lettuce)
HARD GOODS
• Stock pot/Soup pot, with lid (3 to 5 quart)
• OASIS® Water Tubes (4-inch)
• OASIS™ Florist Wire (20 gauge)
• Floratape® Stem Wrap (Light Green)
• FloraLife® SURE-STIK® Floral Adhesive
• Wood picks or thick wood skewers
• Miniature pin frogs/kenzans (optional)
