While the tree may be the main event, Christmas flowers can add the magic of the season to every room of the house. Think poinsettias and garlands around the fireplace, a wreath on the front door, flower arrangements on your dining table and a vase in your kitchen.
Exclusive Flowers’ floral business development specialist, Nicola Costain, shared her advice for creating arrangements and bouquets that don’t just stand out and sparkle, but also last all Christmas long.
Her first piece of advice is to pick two or three main colours.
“Don’t go too crazy with too many colours,” she suggested. “What accent have you got in your house? Have you got gold? Are you using silver this year? Perhaps bringing in that accent tone to match the cutlery, for instance. Colour is lovely, but don’t go too over the top.”
In addition to traditional poinsettias, popular flowers for this time of year include hydrangeas, roses, lisianthus, hypericum berries and amaryllis.
“Amaryllis is a really gorgeous flower, which opens up, very long lasting and they do really well in the heat here,” she said.
Amaryllis also come in a variety of traditional colours including red, dark pink and white. “White goes beautifully with eucalyptus and sparkly picks like silvers and whites for more of a clean, Nordic theme,” she said.
Those who love unique roses, or have a specific colour theme in mind, might enjoy the dyed roses with sparkle that are available around Christmas time: “They put a dye in the soil and then it soaks it up into the head,” she explained.
These roses come in many colours, but the most popular are pink.
“We like to bring in the pinks with the Bermuda pink sand,” she said, adding that she enjoys doing Christmas arrangements inspired by her surroundings.
“It’s nice to be inspired by Bermuda and our island. The pinks, and the blues, and teal colours. Shells are also nice to bring in.”
For more traditional flower arrangements and wreaths, baubles, dried fruits, pine cones, sparkly twigs and cinnamon sticks give extra vibrance. Ms Costain also likes to incorporate local greenery into her arrangements.
In addition to real flowers, she recommended trying faux florals not just because they can be reused, but also because the quality is so high, you don’t release they are faux until you are touching them. These are particularly popular for livening up the tree.
“Beautiful, large magnolia picks, poinsettia picks. It’s a new trend where people are putting flower picks into the Christmas trees to not only fill them out but it gives a beautiful abundance of these large, focal floral heads,” she said.
Make them last
The best time to buy real flowers is five days before Christmas and it is crucial to keep them moist. For vase flowers, stems should be cut at a 45 degree angle, and clean of any leaves in the water. Keep the vase topped up with fresh water, and for maximum longevity, empty it out on occasion and bleach the vase.
“Add a tiny bit of household bleach in your vase. Not even a teaspoon,” she said. “It just kills any bacteria that any of the flowers may produce. Then pour it out and add clean water.”
Fresh flowers should also be kept out of direct sunlight and, if the arrangement is in a foam oasis, don’t let it dry out. Wreaths should be regularly spritzed.
To learn how to create your own festive floral arrangements, the Flower Bar offers workshops at their 7 Reid Street location. For more information visit eebermuda.com.
