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Decorating your “Home Sweet Home” with flowers is one of the best ways you can make your abode look elegant and charming. And crowning the effect is the save on your hard-earned bucks. These days flower wreaths and various elegant designer flower arrangements come in a treasure trove collection. Designs in multifarious shapes and sizes can just make you go head-over-heels at the very charm and what happens to the onlookers, you can very well imagine! You will love the way they just stare and appreciate your classy arrangements; yes flowers can really do wonders. You can choose anything from an eclectic selection of tabletops and floor topiaries to silks and even to dried moss. Sometimes a little chic, delicately dressed wreath can be all that you were looking for. And with wreaths you can always be on an adventure choosing from an array of different seasonal styles, doesn’t that sound too exciting??

No matter whichever room it is, the lobby, the bedroom, the brand new study, the kid’s room or even the nursery, a perfect finishing touch for any of these could be an ancient topiary design or a combination of pansy-accents with poppy sconces or an intricately designed centerpiece with vibrant florals, a dash of seasonal fruits and some classy silk. While choosing your floral arrangements always keep one thing in mind, it is better to go for hand-made customs designs when it comes to floral accents. This is because it adds an extra tinge of finesse making the entire thing a fine, first quality décor material.  Have a little talk to a friend who like you is fond of floral arrangements for home decoration and find out which brand is rendering a good job. Choose a name that reflects consumer satisfaction and trending and cater to specific design needs. All firms won’t listen to your exclusive accent design choice or need or pay a heed to your specific color or material demands. And without those specifications at par the entire thing may not look appealing to your aesthetic sense. So know what you envision and go for the best choice. 

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With the concepts of home décor and interior designing taking a new turn the very definition of home designing and decoration has seen a fresh horizon of clarity. A host of changes have occurred and shifting from the occult tapestries and luscious furnishings of the yester years the concept is fast drifting towards a classical turn. As a result with a lot of other things of traditional taste like chaise lounge and queen-size beds stuffed with foam, floral arrangements and dried flower wreaths have come to a chic limelight.    

Dried Floral Heart Wreaths, Dried flower swags, fresh flowers, floral arrangements- these are some of the items that are held in high regard these days. No doubt, there’s nothing like a beautiful and vibrant floral arrangement. The very presence of a bunch of flowers either fresh or dried in a room, blending the refined essence of their fragrance with the entire ambience immediately enriches the entire atmosphere of the room.  Decorative floral wreaths and swags and flower bouquets or arrangements are a fantastic addition to today’s home décor. The very toting up of the natural touch of dried and life-like silk ersatz flowers can bring the beauty of nature to your home or office environment. And the best part is these floral arrangements don’t just add to the beauty of your home and office but they affect your psyche and mood in a very positive way. The view of fresh flowers and the somber fragrance evoke a unique level of sensitivity in you refreshing you off the drooping hangover and work pressure from the previous day. 

So if you really want to decorate your home giving it a distinctive edge thereby evoking a classy southern allure and modishness then you may very well choose some meticulously hand-crafted wreaths and swags, centerpieces and topiaries that will fill up all the excess rooms in your abode and give it an inimitable charm and a casual and elegant look.  Just go ahead and opt for rather natural touches of blush-ons to your dearie home rather than stuffing it all around with inorganic lifeless bits and pieces. It is always good to go back to nature, isn’t it?  

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Wreaths basically come in 7 different forms. Let me name them for you. The list goes like this- Straw, Styrofoam, Nito, Grapevine, Special Wire Clamp Style Wreath Forms, Box Wired wreaths and finally the traditional Oasis Wet Foam Wreaths. This is the basic list though the wreaths just mentioned may be made in variations of shapes and sizes. 

Once you begin to prepare for any of these wreaths you have to remember that there are three delicate sets of directives you need to follow while making a wreath on three characteristically different wreath bases.  Whichever wreath you make, if you want to see it end at an appreciative tone with a pleasing design then you need to follow the three tier process of Line, Focal and Filler.

Now let’s make a wreath with a Straw Hay Base.

• To start with it’s the first step,

Line: You need to make a hanging loop at the back of the wreath. Chop a few heather stems into little pieces each 2”-3” in length. Now take a glue gun and place two points to the right and three points to the left. Make distinctive marks.  Next reel the lengths well.

• Next step 2,

Focal: Take a black-eyed Susan stem and cut it into a few equal pieces each 5” long. Put some hot glue on the twigs and place them on the base following the shape of the wreath you have decided on.

• Finally step 3,

Filler: Last but not the least you need to cut the field flower stems as well into 5” long twigs and arrange them to fill up the entire base. That’s it!

Now let’s make a wreath with a grapevine base. Again the same three steps,

·        Step 1, Line:  Craft a lynching loop. Take a common ivy garland and break it up into equal 7” long pieces. Now place them on the wreath base with hot glue.

·        Step 2, Focal: Take some tiger lily stems and cut them into 2” pieces. Again glue them around the wreath where ever you please.

·        Step 3, Filler:  Finally use some small flowers to fill up the gaps all around the lilies in perfect match.   

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Topiaries keep the best within the nursery walls. Prime among the agenda of the care list is to apply some good fertilizer once every month. Make it often during the growing season. But you have to be careful about what sort of a fertilizer are you applying to which plant. Be specific as per the plant species. Don’t over do it as that will lead to over growth, which is obviously not desirable. Another little trick is to use one tablespoon of household ammonia to a gallon of water for the fern-type plants. Apply it with daily water at a gap of two weeks.

It is preferable to keep some gravel, slow-release fertilizer, bypass pruners and twist ties at reach for constant use.

Trim the topiary to maintain the shape. Topiaries remain at a constant need for watering to thwart leaf shedding and enable healthy flowering. Keep the soil wet or else it may turn brown on the edges of the leaves if permitted to dry out between watering. But that doesn’t mean the pot will stand submerged in the water. On the contrary you prevent that. Standing water may cause root rot. So fill the saucer with gravel to keep the roots out of straight contact with water. See that the root-ball is completely saturated in the soil as that will help the topiary attain a grand look, hence dip the pot in 1-2 inches of water twice a week. Insects are real nuisance; it is necessary to keep them away. Add a tablespoon of soap to a gallon of water and spray the solution on the plants once every two weeks.  Grow the plant in a container with a leak to prevent waterlogging and drain off the excess moisture. 

Carry out regular and careful pruning to enhance a bushy growth. Keep the wandering vines and shoots tucked inside to maintain the form or train them to be back in form with some string. Make use of twist ties for the purpose.  If you come across some long and rapid growth then prune them back into the main form with bypass pruners. Hence you will get a lush topiary, healthy, growing and green!  

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The next agenda on the list is to make topiary at home. This unlike a wreath or a bouquet is a bit complex a task and time consuming as well. Today let’s try our hands at the art of making topiaries and gain some idea about which are the best plants for the use.

To start with you should know that topiary making is a hard-core aesthetic art. It is a complex task whereby you some special plants, foliage and trees to grow in to a meticulous shape, as you wish. 

As you start you need two or three young trees with branches and trunks just about ¼” in diameter. What you will do is tress or intertwine them as one. Now the trees will continue growing and you have to take care of trimming the new growth at regular intervals into the shape you desire. It can be anything from a hedge to a pyramid or even a ball. Or else there’s another way round. You just allow the top to grow naturally to have that free-formed look. Use plants like olive or berry or fragrant herbs that look just great this way.  

Now comes a hard turn. You will now need to train the fresh plants to climb on a trellis. Do this by the time they are already young. Attach a few strings to the shoots to make the climb easier and just in the shape you desire the topiary to be. See that your trellis is situated in the north of the flowers; the plants should not be shadowed.

Some of the best plant choices for topiary are Climbing Hydrangea, Fleece vine, Honeysuckle, Actinidia, Bittersweet, Engelmann Ivy. Actually climbing plants look chic for climbing garden topiaries. Some of the annual plants can also be used like Canary-bird flower, Cup and saucer vine, Balsam Apple, Cypress Vine, Cardinal climber and Japanese hop.  One of my personal favorites is the Black-eyes Susan. This vine has an exceptionally green leaf with blanket like golden-yellow, scattered flowers. This annual herb grows really fast and can survive even in hard conditions, quite a darling to raise. Some of the others on the list are Morning Glory, Passion Flower, Climbing Roses and English Ivy. Climbing Roses are the most popular among all of these. These need a lot of space, plenty of air and sunlight and special attention.  If you can arrange for a horizontal trellis then you are share to get a better bloom.

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Flowers fit in very easily with all occasions may it be a birthday party, a wedding, an anniversary or even a dear one’s funeral. I wonder since when did this practice start but still just think flowers for a funeral, how thoughtful, isn’t it?

Sending flowers to a funeral shows the intensity of care and concern that one nurtures for fellow humans.  Sympathy wreaths for purposes of memorial and remembrance persist to gain in regard and popularity. They offer a considerate gift that can be kept in commemoration. Sending a bunch or bouquet of Sympathy Flowers and gifts during a difficult time are kind tokens of your thoughts and feelings since a lot of the times flowers are capable of conveying what words cannot. They miraculously help you express your compassionate feelings without even uttering a word.

You can pick anything from a wreath to a sconce or swag or dish gardens or arrangements; which ever you think is appropriate for the occasion or that which appeals you most. Some of the wreaths, which you may like to consider, are fresh bloom wreaths with roses and carnations, Fuji mums and chrysanthemums. These flowers just look great when arranged in the form of a garland around the wreath. You can go for a nice combination of blossoms and foliage creating a unique memorial herbal wreath that will make an enduring and soothing gift in times of sorrow. Unlike wreath arrangements, sprays are especially intended to be viewed from one side and look their best when arranged on an easel or laid on top of the casket. As sprays are customarily displayed during the service, they need to be consisting of very choosy and sleek colors. You may also put a card within conveying all your love and affection thereby healing the loss thereby paying your concluding commiseration and reverence to your dear one.

Sending a memorial wreath is a truly sympathetic gesture in the first place and you can crown the effect one step further if you try making it yourself. Believe me it is real easy. But that will be explained to you in another detailed article in the crafts section. For now you just need to know that you always don’t need to buy wreaths, you can very well make them at home.    

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once upon a time, there was a dried flower - called Anamika.

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