All about flowers & flower arranging
How to make a Flower Bouquet
Flowers arranged and wrapped as a bouquet can bring a smile to the grumpiest person. It doesn't take too much effort to transform a bunch or two of store bought flowers, into a "gift". Simple instructions on how to make a wrapped bouquet from one type of flower with no additional greenery follow.
Flowers purchased from a store or florist are generally commercially grown, often in greenhouses. Amongst other qualities, growers aim for length and straightness, with makes them easier to work with. Not many of us are lucky enough to have a garden full of lovely long-stem blooms!
Items required to make bouquet
- 20 - 24 flowers with their own leaves (eg roses, tulips, iris)
- 2 (or 4) sheets of water-proof paper to wrap bouquet - eg cellophane +/- 50x70cm
- Sharp knife - eg floristry knife, vegetable paring knife, penknife
- Scissors
- Container / bucket of water
- Ribbon -1.5 to 2m tear ribbon, organza, woven ribbon, raffia or similar
- Clear cello or sturdy plastic for water bag (optional).
Assembling the flower bouquet
Condition your flowers by recutting the stems at an angle with a sharp knife and remove all foliage from the lower 1/3 of each stem. Place them in tepid water immediately in a clean plastic, ceramic or glass container. Do not use a metal container. Leave in water for at least a couple of hours and overnight if possible. 
Spiral the flowers by placing each stem at an angle, at a point 2/3 down the stem. Add all stems in the same direction, turning the bunch as you add more flowers. Doing this creates an airy dome shape. Keep the flower heads on the same level.
Once you are happy with the shape of the bouquet, firmly tie off the bouquet off with raffia, ribbon or a rubber band around 1/3 from the bottom of the stems. This should be at the point where any foliage on the stem ends and the point around which the stems were spiralled. The latter is probably the easiest to do, and the elasticity of the rubber band prevents fleshy stems (such as tulips) getting squashed. Recut the stems at an angle so they are all the same length.
Take your cellophane or wrap, and fold end to end on the diagonal. If using 4 sheets (for extra colour contrast), lay the 2 colours together but slightly offset, so that a number of "peaks" form. Do this for the other sheet (or 2 contrasting sheets). If the paper looks like it will be too large for the bouquet, Make another fold along the original fold, about 2.5cm / 1" deep.
Now pick up the bouquet, take one lot of folded wrap and place the fold where the flowers have been tied and place it around the bouquet. It should go approximately 2/3 around the flowers, depending how big the bouquet is. Secure the wrap with sticky tape close to the tying point. Then take the other folded wrap and place it on the opposite side of the bouquet and secure with tape at the tying point. Secure with more tape higher up if the wrap appears to be flopping down.
If you are going to add a water bag /bubble - this is the time to do it. It is a good idea to have one, if the flowers are going to be out of water for any length of time. A strong plastic bag 20cmW x 25cmH works well , or alternatively use a 60cm / 24"square of cellophane or heavy-ish plastic with no holes.( Increase these sizes if wrapping flowers longer than 60cm). Stand your bouquet in the middle of either the sheet or plastic bag, and gather up snugly around the stems. Secure with a rubber band or tie 1/3 up the stem as before.
Now for the bow - a little detail, but it adds a lot to the presentation. You can be creative and use anything that compliments your bouquet, or use fabric or paper ribbon as shown. Use about 1m of the ribbon to make the loops of the bow, and cut the remainder into 2 shorter pieces.
- Starting with a short tail, create at least 4 loops, 2 on each side
- Fasten the ribbon loops together with one of the precut short pieces
- Tie the other short piece around the bouquet where the wrap starts, or slightly above
- Attach the bow onto the bouquet by firmly tying the tails over the bow
- If you added a water bag / bubble, stand the bouquet vertical and slowly pour water in at the top of the bouquet until the water comes up at least 1/2 way or all stems are immersed
- Voila - See the recipient smile!
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