An arrangement for your kitchen table - part 1

An Arrangement for Your Kitchen Table - Part 1

Arthur takes you through his process for arranging a table - from how to choose vases that are the correct style and size, to how to arrange your flowers.

Arthur uses his vases throughout the year, starting from tiny spring flowers to massive dahlias

Sizes, Styles and Types of Vases

The biggest vase he uses is weighty, so he treats it like it's the anchor to the arrangement of vases, like the moon or sun in a galaxy.

The group of vases are all treated as different subjects. Weight is really important when doing flowers. You need to think about weight, especially when you're going to have people eating at the table. You want nothing that's going to topple over during dinner.

The smaller, vintage bud vases will have very delicate, fine, and airy flowers in them. Arthur doesn't like beautiful, tall stems being cut short. You can use water glasses and old jam jars.

Start with Your Foliage

It's spring, and all the hedgerows are waking up with zesty foliage. Hardwood cut foliage is full of sap, so it flops easily. Arthur boils some water; and places the hardwood cut foliage into a mug of the just-off-the-boil water for as long as my finger can cope with it. This exfoliates the bark and extends its vase life as it allows it to pump up as much water as possible.

On the walk, he thinks about the sizes and shapes of vases. Vases with a fluted edge are great for supporting the shapes of the plants. If you overthink things, they can get complicated.

Violas & Pansies

Arthur picked a lemon posset yellow and a nice rusty red with a yellow face. These are the flowers that will look at people on the table, so it's nice to have different heights of flowers.

He always tries to keep a pair of florist's scissors handy. They're great for cutting hardy stems and have a good sharp point. Small scissors get lost easily, so it is really handy to have larger scissors that are a vivid colour.

You don't want any leaves ever under vase water. They'd decay and smell after a few hours. Each small bud vase is going to get 3 or 5 flowers.