Rittners School Of Floral Design
In Boston Presents....

How To Make A Bells of Ireland Vase Arrangement

Isn't this a neat vase arrangement?

One of the thrills of being an American Floral Designer is that we enjoy getting product into our markets from all over the world.

As someone who is a third generation in the floral field, I should be quite used to this by now, but the concept still excites me!!!

The idea that I can call my wholesaler, and within a day get flowers from Israel, the Carribean, South America, California, or Holland........

And they are constantly bringing in new and unusual items and varieties.......It's fantastic!!!!!

What does this have to do with bells of ireland?

A great deal.................

Only a few years ago, bells of ireland was a flower that generally came in during Feb. and March.......Sometimes it came in looking beautiful. Other times it was nothing special......But it was always expensive..........

In the past couple of years some of the growers in Central and South America have started to grow this flower in serious volume. The quality is very very good, and the price more reasonable........

When I can get an unusual flower pretty much through the year, and it looks great, I get excited............

It is my hope that you get excited too, with this great flower!!!

What You Will Need

Let's start this design by placing foam into the container.

We create the overall shape of this design as illustrated using bells of ireland.

Bells of ireland are a good keeping flower. When handling them beware of the thorns.

Keep in mind that they may grow a bit even after you finish your design. If the tips angle up towards the light, or seem to have moved, no one has fooled around with your design.........It is simply the flowers themselves!!!!

Let's create some contrast in color.

Heather is a great material to do this with....We are placing the heather in between the bells as shown in the photograph......

Notice how it really stands out distinctively against the bells of ireland....The two materials play well off of each other........

Thus far we have been using floral materials that are rather spikey in shape.

Let's introduce a face flower to provide contrast in shape and form.....

I can't think of any better choice than alstroemeria.

Alstroemeria comes in a variety of colors from yellows and oranges, to pinks and lavenders......We are using a variety here that is white with touches of red violet in it.......This enables it to blend in well color wise with the heather.......

We start adding the alstroemeria from the left side, and gradually work over to the center of the design.

We continue adding the alstoemeria from the center over to the right side of the arrangement.......

The mechanics can be covered with small fragments of the bells of ireland, or with a little moss or foliage..........

Note: This design is a very large one........It could be used quite effectively in many different contexts.

It would be appropriate as a gift idea...........

• For a significant other.

• As a birthday gift.

• As a gift to give when visiting someone's home.

• For Mother's Day

• For Easter.

• As a St. Patrick's Day Design.

• For a buffet table at a baby shower or wedding.

• For a mantel decoration.

• For an entry hall in a lovely home

• For an entry area in an office or big company

Substitutions on this one?

I would leave it exactly as is......However if you'd like to play with it a bit leave the bells of ireland and the heather alone...........

Consider substitutions for the alstroemeria, such as roses, scabiosa, daisy poms, fuji poms, daffodils, button poms, godetia, and nerines....

We hope that you really enjoyed this brief floral design lesson. At Rittners Floral School in Boston we provide floral design instruction that includes a wide range of different styles and techniques. Please come and take one of our hands-on workshop programs!!