Fresh Flower Wreaths

To really up your Christmas wreath game for a special occasion, there is the option of including fresh flowers such as roses & ranunculus for a high end luxury wreath.

These can be added to your moss based wreath on the day of a special event. Flowers with a hard stem, such as roses, can be fed directly into your wreath in the same way that you would insert the foliage. You will want to cut the stem of the rose on a sharp slant to make this process easier. When you are sliding the stem into the moss, you do not want the tip to poke out the back of the moss, instead sitting within the moss to allow water uptake. Cutting the stems on a sharp slant ensures you have maximised the surface area for water uptake to for freshness. For soft stemmed flowers such as ranunculus they may need to be wired to help you push through the moss.

The floral additions can be places evenly around the wreath if you are a lover of symmetry. For a more design-led look you an try grouping together small sets of flowers. When you group these together, the sets create more impact. When choosing the colours of your flowers it’s worth considering the colours and how much they will stand out against the foliages. For example if you were using a velvety deep red rose, you would look to place it on top of the paler, silvery foliages instead of the rich forest greens. This way the contrast would make the roses stand out more. Similarly if you were including white roses, these would sit better among the dark green foliages for more contrast & visibility.

To source your flowers you could visit your local florist and buy by the stem, allowing you to select each individual flower. You will often find a price list showing the price per stem written on a board if the flowers are not labelled individually. If you are unsure of any of the names, don’t be afraid to ask for help - no florist will expect their customers to be able to identify every flower in the shop! You could even ask if the particular flowers you are keen on have hard of soft stems if you aren’t keen on doing any additional wiring. If this is the case I would recommend avoiding tulips, anemones and ranunculus.

There is also the option to cut flowers from your garden if there are any leftover from summer. It’s unlikely that your guests would be utilising your back garden during the winter so it’s best to cut from your lesser used patches of garden rather than your porch area. If you cut anything from your garden the flowers will need a good drink before you do any arranging with them (this applies to both moss & floral foam). Fill a clean container, vase or bucket with water, cut the stems of the florwers on a sharp slant and immediately place them in the clean, deep water (not the heads of the flowers though). Allow them to drink for at least 24 hours before using.

For a longer lasting floral wreath there is the option of using a wreath base made of floral foam (such as Oasis or Florex). Although we favour the natural moss base as it’s kinder to the environment, floral foam is sometimes simple the best way to go for longevity when flowers are used in a design that cannot sit in a water filled vessel. Depending on the weather where you are based something like roses could last well for ten days if the foam was kept moist. The optimum temperature would be between 1-10d degrees Celsius for longevity. Temperatures below zero or warmer climates will damage delicate blooms. For longevity darker colour flowers are also reccomeded as white flowers would show signs of spoiling before a deep red.