No Prep – Floral arranging requires a deft touch

Floral arranging around Valentine’s Day is a very stressful job. It seems like everyone depends on those who know their way around a bloom or blossom to help them convey how they truly feel to the one they love. It’s not for the weak or inexperienced.  

Which is exactly what I am. Not weak perhaps, but certainly inexperienced when it comes to being a florist.  

The only experience I have with flowers and vases is when I get the grocery store flowers, cut the stems and put them in water. That, as it turns out, did not prepare to create an actual floral arrangement. A nice one. The kind people pay actual money for.  

I got to Flowers On Broad in downtown Augusta and met up with Riley Lane, who had volunteered to help me create a red rose display. We started with two empty vases, blank canvases if you will. From there we would create floral art, or at least my best attempt.  

Lane started me out with the greenery that typically fills out the arrangement, because lets be honest, just having 12 roses in a vase is a bit underwhelming. We had to cut the stems of the greenery to make them fit into the vase better. That felt like something I could do. Lane was using a small knife to make quick cuts. However, she gave me regular hand clippers. I believe that is because she wanted roses in the vase, not pieces of my finger. 

So, I got to cutting the greenery and putting it in the vase. Lane made sure to tell me that I needed to spread it out and fill out the vase. Well off I went, cutting and sticking, sticking and cutting, pausing here and there to make sure things were balanced. Lane kept saying that I was doing pretty good. I hope she was serious and not just trying to make me feel better. 

After all of the greenery was in place, it was time to add roses. Lane told me about the one-five-six method. One bloom goes in the very center, then five around it, and then six on the outside. I did my best to follow the method. Also, I had Riley’s words in the back of my head making sure that arrangement was balanced.  

I’d place a rose, then stop and check. I did this for all 12 and once I had my roses placed, I took a step back to look at the finished product. It certainly didn’t look like the beautiful arrangement that Lane so efficiently crafted, but I don’t think it looked too bad for a guy who had never done this before.  

Lane and several of the other people at Flowers On Broad – floral professionals one-and-all –said that my arrangement looked really good for a first timer. Again, perhaps they were just being kind, but I’ll take it. I was getting compliments from people who make some of the most beautiful floral arrangements that you’ve ever seen. Heck, with a little practice maybe I could be the Bob Ross of floral arrangements. Probably not, but a young man can dream. 

Another big thank you to Riley Lane and the folks at Flowers On Broad for helping me, because as you know, I had No Prep.