Grow A Flower Garden 101

Grow A Flower Garden 101

• 23.11.20

Become your own home florist to fill your home with flowers and foliage all year round. In this ten-part guide I will show you how to start a flower garden, what to consider, the best flowers to get you started and how to fill your home with flower arrangements, and sharing on-trend ideas. With tutorials for DIY creative flowers and how to throw your own flower party for friends and family to enjoy together. 

I love to pick fresh flowers in the morning and gift an abundance to friends and family. Although I do love to visit flower farms for their pick your own events! 

This guide isn’t for experts or flower farmers but for anyone who like me who wants to see flowers around their home all year and who enjoys gifting flowers. If you already grow vegetables, add a few flowers to your vegetable patch and the flowers will attract more pollinators to your vegetables.

A flower cutting garden, it is an area designated to cut flowers to fill your home, it might not be the prettiest place in the garden if you cut them all. But cut as you need flowers and they will keep coming back again and again. 

What to consider when setting up your area? 

You can start a cutting garden in flower pots, wooden crates but the best place is a patch of garden, preferably in full or partial sunshine. The area will need to be weed-free and as the flowers need to recover from all the snipping, organic matter is good to improve water retention and drainage. Work in several inches of compost or leaf mold before planting. 

Flowers can get windswept quickly so do ensure where you can that they are placed away from the windy area of your garden. I have been known to build barriers occasionally with bins as the wind moves towards the east of our house. 

Feeding - as flowers grow I would recommend a liquid fertilizer as this can give a boost to reproduction. 

Layout - access is important to cut the stems easily and to attend to the plants as they need staking up as they grow.

Plant needs - I look at flower and foliage plant needs and group them together based on whether they need lots of water or not and when they will flower. This helps as it makes it easier to not over or under water plants.

Sequence of flowering - you could consider laying out plants by order of flowering, early season, midseason, and late season. 

Annuals - often don’t last an entire season, so succession seeding can help. As you can sow seeds a few weeks apart for continuous flowers until the end of that plants flowering season. Remove faded flowers and replace if space is limited to keep your flowers fresh. (More on flower and foliage to plant for a tried and tested flower garden in part 2).

Mulching - helps the soil to retain moisture in summer and rain to penetrate the soil in winter it also helps prevent weeds from growing. Mulching also helps protect the roots of plants in the winter. I haven’t always mulched but I do now as it does help the plants and makes weeding and watering easier.

Now you have an idea of how to set the area where you wish to plant your flowers and foliage, in part 2 I will share the list of flowers and foliage that keep our home filled all year round. If you would like the next blog post, flower inspiration and trends delievered straight to your inbox then sign up here. 

For Flower Craft Kits and DIY Flower inspiration at home, visit my shop at Flower Wrap and Grow. Let's get sowing, growing and enjoying flowers in our gardens and homes.

Love 

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20% Off DIY Flower Wreath Kits

20% Off DIY Flower Wreath Kits

• 6.11.20

This November you can get 20% Off now Flower wreath-making kits on the shop. Create floral wreaths to decorate at home with dried or garden foliage. Great with ivy, berries, and pretty lights or with dried flowers and foliage. Good home activity kit to get creative on your own or with family.

See more on the shop >>>

Dried Flower Wreath Making Kit

Moodboard For Flower Wreath Making

Home florist Tutorials and Guides

Other posts of interest DIY Floral Wreath Asymmetrical tutorial or be sure to join the email list to receive special offers, updates, and the first glimpse at on-trend tutorial guides. 

See these offers and more at www.flowerwrapandgrow.com 

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Make A Cup Of Flowers And Decorate Your Home

Make A Cup Of Flowers And Decorate Your Home

• 4.11.20

I love to create pretty cups of flowers and place them around our home, on the landing window ledge, a side table as you enter the front door, or a couple across the kitchen table. I have used dried or fresher flowers and have included objects we have found on special walks or outings. 

Cups Of Garden Flowers - Create Your Own At Home

For dried Autumn displays I like to include conkers, dried lavender, peony heads, poppy seed heads, blue sea holly, and pretty strawflowers. The conker I made a small hole and insert some florist wire so I could push it into the biodegradable oasis.

Dried Flower Arrangement In A Vintage Cup And Saucer Set.

I also love to make seasonal Cups Of Flowers as fresh flower gifts, perfect to say thank you or as a little Birthday treat. These are simple to create with garden flowers, I like to use sweetpeas, feverfew, small dahlia’s, miniature sunflowers such as Helianthus annuus ‘Sonja' or Helianthus debilis 'Vanilla Ice’. Many combinations look great together and see the easy six-step guide below how to create a Cup of Flowers yourself at home.

Ingredients

Flowers, foliage, cup and saucer, florist wire, biodegradable oasis, sharp scissors or florist snips, label if gifting. See the Cup Of Flower Kit to help you create your own.

Time: 20 minutes

1. Pick flowers and foliage from your garden, early in the morning is the ideal time as the plants are hydrated or use dried the choice is yours.

2. Layout your materials such as a vintage cup with saucer, florist wire, sharp scissors.

3. I recommend pressing the oasis into the cup and using a biodegradable oasis. Pull the oasis out and a cup imprint will be left. Cut where the narrow end will be close to the bottom of the cup, then slide the oasis in so it is level. 

4. Ensure there is a good fit but do leave a little room for water around the edges and for the oasis to swell a little with water. Keep topped up with water to prolong the display's life.

5. Trim your selected flowers and pick out pretty foliage and any textured items you may wish to include, seed pods, conkers,s, or grasses.

6. It is good to add height to the center of the teacup so add taller structures of foliage and interesting textures here first and fill the rest of the cup with flowers. Turn the cup as you fill with your blooms and alternate coloured flowers and foliage.

Once completed display and photograph your DIY Cup Of Flowers creation. Keep to admire or gift to delight someone special. #DIYcupofflowers

If you love DIY Flower Crafts sign up to our newsletter for more home florist ideas and inspiration join here.

Dahlia Waltzing Mathilda in Flower Arrangement

Chrysanthemums collection in vintage cup

Ranunculus and anemone flower display

Would you like to see more flower inspiration take a peek with Flower Wrap and Grow on Instagram and Pinterest. Let's get creative with flowers and make our gardens a home florist.

If you enjoyed this post you may also like How To Make A Flower Crown - How To Make A Floral Hoop or 18 Flower Arrangement Ideas. 

Cup Of Flowers Gifting Kit - Flowerwrapandgrow.com

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DIY Floral Wreath Asymmetrical

DIY Floral Wreath Asymmetrical

• 15.10.20

On trend this year is the asymmetrical wreath, half the work and tons of glamour. Ideal for your front door or simply to decorate your home this season. A great time to try now with the abundance of Autumn nature or to make a Christmas wreath.

 

In this tutorial I will show you how to make a seasonal wreath. For my example this was an autumn inspired flower wreath with forged flora and foliage. Using sustainable bamboo hoops 20cm and 23cm and NewLife eco-friendly ribbons.

 Materials

Bamboo macrame hoop
Ribbon
Thin gauge floral wire
Florist tape
Wire cutters or sharp scissors
Fresh flowers and foliage

Instructions

1. Layout your floral materials and add your selection of flowers from the garden, dried or faux flowers. In this example ivy and bay leaves to get stared. For materials www.flowerwrapandgrow.com offer DIY Flower Wreath sets, so you just simply add flowers and foliage.

2. A great way to personalise your hoop is to include specially forged seed heads, pine cones or dried grasses. Wrap the green foliage around your hoop, good suggestions include, eucalyptus, ivy and sprigs of holly for Christmas. Beware of using berries if children are around and a wreath maybe in reaching distance. 

3. Build your greenery, starting from the outermost edges that you want to cover and work in. Use floral wire to secure branches and larger items. Repeat if you want to builder up a deeper covering.

4. Once the foliage has been built up start adding your fresh or dried flowers. This can be done with the floral wire or florist tape. Pick a flower and wrap the tape around the stem, make sure to high the tape with foliage or more flowers.

 

5. Keep adding interesting details and ensure you wrap up loose ends to keep the wreath design tidy. It’s lovely if you have collected special seasonal items on a walk as every time you look at your wreath it can make you smile.

6. Add a ribbon ( I choose newline ribbon as it is eco-friendly) and hang your beautiful wreath on a nail or a door frame. Photograph to share with friends and family #DIYFlowerwreath.

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Ten Activities That Help Find Moments Of calm For Yourself

Ten Activities That Help Find Moments Of calm For Yourself

• 22.5.20

In these uncertain times, the garden and walks in nature can really help. Stay safe and be kind to yourself. Here are ten activities and ideas that can help in the weeks ahead to find a little calm.

1. Walk-in nature anywhere you can, through a park, along the beach, or if you cannot go outside open the windows and watch the birds
2. Creative art, draw, paint, colour, or create a collage
3. Take time to sit calmly and breath, deeply for five minutes at a time

4. Sing along to a favorite song

5. Feel the sun on your face
6. Find that book you have been meaning to read

7. Call someone to see how they are and what they have been doing?
8. Enjoy the season as Spring turns into Summer, notice the little changes
9. Smile, this will be over and will not last forever
10. Know you are enough and you can do this, feel the calm wash over you.

#walks #Bekind #mindfulness

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How To Make A Flower Crown At Home

How To Make A Flower Crown At Home

• 11.5.20

DIY Rose Flower Crown

Simple steps to make your own do-it-yourself flower crown at home. Use garden flowers locally brought florals or choose faux the choice is yours!

There is something so fun and whimsical about flower crowns. Wear them for a party, wedding, festival or at the moment around your home just for fun!

Things you will need, scissors, flowers, florist wire, floral tape (or use the DIY Flower Crown Kit)

1. Take your two pieces of floral wire and fit it around your head so that you know how long it needs to be. Twist the ends together to keep in place. Shape the wire into a circle shape.

Floral Crown and materials from the DIY Flower Crown Kit

2. With your floral tape begin wrapping it around the florist wire making sure you pull it gently as you wrap so the tape becomes sticky. Take a long piece of greenery and twist it around the crown, then secure it with floral tape.

Crown wrapped in florist tape and foliage

3. Begin making small bouquets with your flowers and foliage. Then wrap the ends with the floral tape to ensure all the wire is covered in florist tape.

Roses wrapped with florist tape 

4. Add the small bouquets with any extra flowers and foliage, to the crown. Securing with floral tape as you go. Ensuring you add favorite florals to the front.

Garden real flower crown

5. Secure any extra flower ends and tidy up the crown. Add any extra flowers or items such as ribbons as you go.

Garden flowers to make flower crowns

6. Put your floral crown on your head and you are all set to smile, and take photographs to show friends. I would love to see your creations and do share them on #FWG_DIYflowers

DIY Flower Crown made at home by Kelly Rideout

If you like more flower inspiration see the Crafty Flower Ideas To Try At Home 101 and if you would like to start growing your own flowers see Top 15 Cut Flowers And 8 Foliage Plants To Grow This Year.

DIY Flower Crown Kits can be brought at my shop KellyRideout.com or on Amazon ideal Birthday gifts or to use for a flower party, festival, or wedding.

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Top 10 Flower Arranging and Cut Flower Growing Books To Read This Summer 2020

Top 10 Flower Arranging and Cut Flower Growing Books To Read This Summer 2020

• 20.4.20

These are the top ten books I am reading or have on my list to read this summer in the garden in the shade with a cup of tea. These books are for flower recipes, to grow cut flowers, learning more about Covent Garden Market, and flower inspiration. What will you be reading this summer and can you recommend anymore flower related books?

The Joy of Dahlias by Katja Staring (Author), Linda Van Der Slot (Author), Marlies Weijers (Author)

Blooms: Contemporary Floral Design by Phaidon Editors and Clare Coulson

Flower Recipe Book, The: 125 Step-by-Step Arrangements for Everyday Occasions by Alethea Harampolis 

The Flower Market Year 2019: 12 Months at New Covent Garden Flower Market by Simon Lycett 

Floret Farm's A Year in Flowers by Erin Benzakein and Chris Benzakein

The Flower Farmer's Year: How to Grow Cut Flowers for Pleasure and Profit by Georgie Newbery 

Flower Colour Guide by Darroch Putnam, Michael Putnam

The Flower Expert: Ideas and inspiration for a life with flowers by Thames & Hudson Australia

Flower Arranging: How to Arrange Flowers from your Florist and from your Garden by Mark Welford and Stephen Wicks

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Crafty Flower Ideas To Try At Home 101

Crafty Flower Ideas To Try At Home 101

• 25.3.20

As lots of us are stuck at home at this unprecedented time, I wanted to bring a little flower joy so here are some flower-based activities to try. Flower arranging, making flower ice cubes, baking edible flowers biscuits and wrapping flower gifts for random acts of kindness and more.

This list of flower activates can also be tried with children. You will need access to flowers for some activities, whether garden flowers or local British flowers. Lots of British flower farmers are offering to post or locally deliver flowers. Great to support British Flowers at this time as their spring flowers are in bloom with florist shops closed. 

Flower Bouquets - Random Acts of Kindness  

Create mini random acts of kindness with flower gifts. Pick garden flowers and foliage, remove lower leaves and hand-tie flowers with string. Wrap with tissue, Kraft or flower wrapping papers. Even newspapers can look great with a ribbon. 

It is your bouquet so be as creative as you want. Pick seed pods, buds just opening and anything that catches your eye. (Be careful with berries and wash your hands after picking). See How To Make A Flower Bouquet Step by Step or view DIY Flower Bouquets for ideas on the Pinterest board. 

As a random act of kindness, if there is someone you know or someone in your street alone at this time. Maybe leave them a little flower bunch on their doorstep as you get some exercise. It might just make their day and you could leave your number encase they need some shopping too. See a great FREE NOTE to download and print here.

Forage for Flowers and Find Interesting Materials To Create Art

Create art with flowers, set up a scene or a story idea. Pick flowers, grasses or anything you wish to include. These could be really simple like leaves, daisies, and twigs. Find a clear sheet of paper or a worktop for your background. I prefer white or light coloured backgrounds.

Carefully set up your items to turn them into an art picture or spell out words. Be careful the wind does not move your design as you are working. Also, make sure the light is good where you create the art. Capture your flower picture as you finish with a photograph. These photographs can be printed at home or companies such as Printed.com or Photobox. Frame and your art and use it to brighten walls in your home.

Flower art inspiration can be found at  Floral Forger for scenes told in nature and for flower fashion inspired by petals see Flower Petal Art Board 

Make Edible Flower Biscuits

Stylish for cups of tea at home and these look so good you will want to share your fabulous biscuit creations on Instagram. Simple to make shortbread biscuits see recipe below and add edible flowers to decorate them such as marigolds, viola, and rosemary.

Be inspired by how easy this is with the video 'Pressed Flower Shortbread Cookies' | How It's Made.

This recipe and more ideas for steps can be found on the Sugar and Charm blog 

How To Make Shortbread Cookies

1. Beat butter in a mixer until smooth. Add in sugar, vanilla, and salt and continue to beat. With the mixer on low, add in the flour and mix until incorporated.
2. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes (or longer if you need too!)
3. Roll the dough out and use a biscuit cutter to make circles.
4. Bake in a preheated oven, 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Let them cool at room temperature.

Flower Growing

You do not need to be green-fingered to try and grow plants, it is more about remembering to water them. Top tip for watering, get a bowl, add water and let the plant sit in it for 30 minutes. After that time the plants will have soaked up enough so tip the remaining water away.

Sunflowers are particularly easy and with all the different colours and styles there is a big selection to choose from. Other easy seeds include Calendula and Violas. 

Try a Flower Wrap and Grow Set as you can grow Calendula seeds and learn to wrap flower bouquets with the guide and materials all in one handy set. Wrap and Grow Edible Flower Gifts send a postbox gift to friends and family. They fit directly through the door and have 10% off first orders.

Marks and sponsors also have a ‘Little Growers’ on a the moment with nice little sets to grow all in one. You do have to spend £20 on food to receive a seedbox. There are some lovely free garden-related activities for children on the link too. Colouring in and puzzles related to growing plants.

Make Flower Arrangements

Bring spring joy into your home with little flower arrangements to brighten a sideboard or kitchen table. As these are your creations make them as colourful or as simple as you like with a wide selection of flowers or simply a couple.

18 Easy Flower Arrangement Ideas be inspired to make your own. Great for the soul as you have flowers around the home.

Make Edible Flower Ice cubes

How to make edible flower ice-cubes is simple, but a few tricks will help them show the flowers at their best

1. Forage flowers just before you intend to use them to keep them fresh. Pick only healthy flowers to included. 
2. Taste a petal or two as you will need to consider the drink you will be adding the ice cubes too. For example, you may wish for a different taste if you are adding them to Gin or to Lemonade. A guide to flower tastes is here and a guide to more edible flowers in the UK can be found here (do make your own research before eating any flower or petals some can cause harm). 
3. Freeze in layers, and start by filling up the ice cube tray halfway with water and place the flower on the surface. Slowly pour in just a little water so when you freeze it the flower will be held in place. Freeze for 12-24 hours, then our another layer of water to fill the ice cube trays. Work quickly so they don’t melt. Freeze for 12-24 hours and you are ready to use them. 

Hold A Mini Flower Party In Your Kitchen Or Garden

Plan a mini family party in your home with family members to celebrate spring or plan a late summer/ autumn garden party. Where you can mix homegrown flowers with British blooms brought locally or picked at flowering pick events.

Set up a serving trolley or a table as a flower bar, select glasses, vases or watering cans and fill with fresh flowers and foliage. You can receive a FREE Flower Bar sign and party checklist when you sign up for the email newsletter here.

Set up another table or sideboard with flower wrapping materials, scissors, twines, ribbons and flower decorations. See the Flower Wrapping Guide.

Create flower bouquets together, make flower arrangements for the home, use the flower ice cubes in old fashioned lemonade or water. Eat your edible flower shortbread biscuits with a nice cup of tea. Gift a flower bouquet to someone special who may need a little thoughtful gift to brighten their day. Keep a few flowers for yourself to enjoy in a vase at home, because flower joy is for you too.

See more on HOW TO HOST A FLOWER PARTY 

Let florals calm and offer mindfulness in a time of unprecedented uncertainty. Join the newsletter for more floral activities, flower updates and grow your own flower offers. 

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