DIY Mother's Day Florals

Once again, spring has sprung and flowers abound in my neighborhood and my own backyard! As I thought about a gift for my mom for Mother’s Day, I looked around my home and yard for inspiration. My eye kept drifting back to some of the beautiful vintage pieces my mom has gifted me over the years–a beautiful hobnail milk glass candy dish, a sweet floral sugar bowl, and a darling little silver teapot. I thought my mom might love to see these treasures filled with gorgeous flowers. And filled not just with pretty flowers I’d spent money on at a local market, but flowers I’d foraged from my own garden! I went for really sentimental and nostalgic blooms, especially ones with incredible scents that would remind her of her own mother: Garden roses, sweet peas, lush viburnum, ranunculus, and lamb’s ear. I even added some houseplant cuttings and limbs from my maple tree, which all came together to make something beautiful, but also sentimental and from the heart!
DIY by Robyn of Bare Root Flora
Photography by Shannon Von Eschen

Supplies:
A pretty little opaque vase to showcase your blooms. Or anything else your own mother may have given you that could act as a vase.
A piece of chicken wire that will fit tightly into the container.
Four or five types of blooms. Tip: Try to vary the size and shapes of your blooms to give your arrangement lots of depth and texture.
Some gorgeous foliages.
A floral knife or clippers–no scissors! Paper scissors damage a flower’s stem and prohibit it from drinking properly.

STEP ONE. The first step to any gorgeous floral arrangement is to prepare your flowers! Make sure you clean off any foliage that will fall below the water line. Leaves in the water will encourage the growth of bacteria, which will shorten the life of your arrangement.

STEP TWO. Next, prepare your container. Bend your chicken wire to fit snugly inside the container. The chicken wire acts as a grid to hold your flowers where you want them, giving your design the shape you want.

STEP THREE. Begin by gathering and placing some of your large, fluffy flowers in a group–-pictured, I use garden and spray roses. It gives the arrangement a beautiful focal point. Next, add in some of your longer-line flowers (in our piece we used snowball viburnum and pink lilac). Use the long-line flowers to create a wild, garden-esque shape. Movement is key, so let the flowers reach and swoop! It will give your piece so much life!

STEP FOUR. Turn your vessel around in slow circles as you design, continuing to place your larger,  fluffier flowers a little lower, with your line flowers slightly taller.

STEP FIVE. We finished the arrangement with yummy foliages from the trees and shrubbery for texture and color. My mom absolutely loved the pieces I gifted for her earlier this week, and I loved showing her how much she means to me!