“This striking design, embodying several of today’s hottest trends, is sure to catch consumers’ eyes and create plenty of positive buzz about your shop.”
When creating this vibrant vertical composition, floral designer Erik Witcraft, AIFD, harnessed inspiration from three current style trends: the energetic “Exploration” aesthetic from the “American Floral Trends Forecast 2020/21,” Pantone’s 2020 “Color of the Year” – Classic Blue, and even green-space developments in urban areas. The bold color palette, which could be defined as either polychromatic or full complementary (if you consider green a neutral); the dynamic design style; and the eclectic collection of forms, textures and flower types, are reflective of the colorful, adventurous “Exploration” mood.
Perhaps the most dramatic of all the standout botanicals are the ‘Xanadu’ cut-leaf philodendron leaves because of their form, placement and shimmery blue color. Witcraft created the visually dimensional metallic hue by coloring the leaves first with Design Master’s “Super Silver” Premium Metals spray and then with “Blue Violets” Just for Flowers Transparent Flower Dye spray.
STEP 1: Color a large metallic bowl with Design Master’s “Lake” übermatte Ultra Matte Finish spray to create a trend-forward blue container. Allow to dry.
STEP 2: Using a long-blade knife, cut an Oasis Midnight Grande Brick or Designer Block (floral foam) into multiple square and rectangular pieces of varying widths and heights. Hot-glue the floral foam pieces into the bowl to resemble an urban skyline, or “cityscape.” In this arrangement, the floral foam in intended to be a visible design component.
STEP 3: Cut smaller irregularly shaped slivers and chucks of the Midnight floral foam, and wedge them between the larger pieces glued into the bowl, to fill the bowl and provide additional stability for the glued pieces.
STEP 4: Form a tall circular “silo”-like structure with gold or silver Oasis Floral Mesh. Color the wire-mesh structure with Design Master’s “Lake” übermatte Ultra Matte Finish spray, and allow to dry. Position the painted structure into the center of the floral-foam-filled bowl, and anchor it in place.
STEP 5: Make loops with tricolor variegated ti leaves, with the surface of the leaves exposed. Bind the tip of each leaf to the stem with Oasis Bind Wire.
STEP 6: Color the front and back sides of eight to 10 ‘Xanadu’ philodendron leaves with Design Master’s “Super Silver” Premium Metals spray. Allow to dry. Next, tint the leaves with “Blue Violets” Just for Flowers Transparent Flower Dye spray, and allow to dry.
STEP 7: Recut the stems of five or six of the tinted leaves, and place each one into a clear water tube filled with flower- food solution.
STEP 8: Wire the leaf-filled water tubes onto the wire-mesh structure with Oasis Bind Wire, in an ascending spiral or other playful pattern. Next, arrange the remaining tinted leaves, as well as the ti-leaf loops, into the floral foam, to form the beginning of the base design. Arrange two or three ti leaves vertically into the floral foam to emphasize the vertical nature of the design.
STEP 9: Arrange the flowers into the floral foam in whatever order you prefer. Witcraft arranged the flowers in the base of the design first, followed by the taller vertical flowers. NOTE: Witcraft inserted the stems of individual miniature Cymbidium orchids into water picks before placing the flowers into the design.
