Helpful How-Tos

Tips & Tricks

What kind of things do you think about when you’re designing a centerpiece for a dining table?

Couple of important things: either keep your arrangements under 12” high or much higher with spaces left to see through. Nothing is more maddening at a dinner party than having to duck and weave to carry on a conversation with people across the table. Also, don’t use overly fragrant flowers like lily of the valley, freesia, some roses, sweetpea and jasmine or their fragrance will collide with the food. And, of course, you either want to use multiple containers (see “Personal Centerpieces”) or design your arrangement to fit on the table (see “Stretching a Small Container to Make a Stunning Centerpiece”.)

How many arrangements can you put in one room?

Generally, you don’t want to any one room to have more than two floral focal points—unless you’re Liberace.

Can you use houseplants as a storehouse for greens?

Absolutely, I’ve been through my phase of having plants in the house but I have a bunch in the studio that I’m constantly cutting. (see “Halloween Trick or Treat”.) And don’t overlook your exterior evergreens, you can safely cut them back in the winter and have an endless source of greenery.

Are there flowers that hold their own out of water?

Yes, calla lilies, carnations, orchids and antherium can stay out of water for protracted periods, you just want to give them a one-hour drink each day.

I’ve heard you say that you always remove the leaves from a flower stem below the waterline—why is that?

It’s a general rule of thumb as leaves discolor the water, can cause the flowers to wilt faster since they use up water and can encourage the growth of slimy stuff. And remember, flowers use up the most water in the first day, so keep that watering can handy! And change the water every two to four days so it doesn’t get milky or nasty looking and don’t forget to reload the preservative.

Anything special you need to do with roses from the florist?

Yes, remove the outside guard petals before arranging otherwise you risk looking like a novice! And speaking of that, always take off those plastic tubes from gerbera stems unless you can be sure they are going to stay hidden. Showing your tubes is worse than having a runner in your panty hose.

There’s some special treatment for lilies, isn’t there?

Yes, remove the dangly, yellow things called stamens from the flowers otherwise their dust will get all over your clothes. Except my dry cleaner loves it when I don’t!

When I cut hydrangea, it often wilts before I can arrange it. What can I do?

Submerging the flower heads in water for an hour brings them right back. It’s a great trick.

When is it best to cut flowers?

After sunset or in the early morning, less stress from sunlight means they’ll last longer.

Is there any special way to cut flowers?

Always cut stems on an angle to give them more surface to drink from.

Do you always put water in a vase or container?

Absolutely, generally before you put the flowers in. Unless, of course, you’re doing a dried arrangement.

How do I keep gerberas or any other flowers (tulips, ranunculus) with weak stems from collapsing?

Thread floral wire (or any other thin, flexible wire) up through the stems leaving enough wire at the flower base to wrap and secure the stem. (See Techniques in Helpful How-Tos.)

When I’m using dried material in a live arrangement, I worry about the dried sucking up too much water.

Here’s a neat trick I use all the time. Instead of using a glass tube to hold water in, use the tubes to keep water out. Stick the empty tubes into your Oasis or support material and then slip in the dried material and you’ve solved the problem.

Do woody stems like lilacs require any special treatment?

Yes, split the ends in quarters about an inch high so they can absorb water more easily. And gently pound the ends of lilac branches so they’ll absorb better.

I’ve heard some flowers do better when you sear their stems.

Yes, holding a lighter on the ends of poinsettias and euphorbia until they stop sizzling can make them last longer.

Do you put anything in water before the flowers?

I find that a drop of bleach or some floral preservative helps keep the water clear and makes flowers last a bit longer. And keep in mind that flowers last longer in water with a little preservative than they do in floral foam.

What are the best flowers to include in my garden for arranging?

Of course it depends on where you live but I’d generally recommend tulips, peonies, hydrangea, iris, roses and dahlias. Those varieties give you a wide array of shapes and colors and pretty well span the growing season. And don’t neglect to put in some greens, hostas, iris, ornamental grasses, to fill out and complement your arrangements.

What do you use to keep deer away?

We’ve fought deer for sixteen years and up until recently, they were the runaway winners. Chomped their way through daylily gardens, hosta plantings, there was hardly anything the critters wouldn’t scarf down. Then we heard about Milorganite. An 85 year-old organic nitrogen fertilizer produced in Milwaukee that you can buy at Home Depot and Lowe’s, it’s saved our gardens for the past three years. We apply it liberally, spreading it around in clumps every three weeks or so, more if we’ve had a lot of rain. What we don’t Milorganite--the deer eat, what we do—they don’t.

What flowers do best underwater?

For underwater arranging, the flowers that do best are ones with a waxy coating on the blooms such as orchids, tulips, calla lilies, rose heads and hyacinths. Others that do well are blooming branches and branches with seasonal berries. See “Arranging Underwater”.

What flowers do best in floating arrangements?

As you can imagine the same ones that like being underwater--roses, tulips, orchids, and then add delphinium, gardenia, peonies and lotus.

When you want bendable stems for a specific arrangement, what flowers should you use?

Orchids, calla lilies and tulips all bend without breaking.

When I arrange with tulips, I find they don’t stay where I put them. What can I do?

Tulips have minds of their own, they continue growing after you cut them so you have to expect that they will twist and turn and design your arrangement to allow shifting.

Is it true that daffodils don’t do well in floral foam?

You bet, for some reason they don’t like to drink out of it but soak a pipe cleaner in water and stuff it up the stem and they’ll do fine. And when using floral foam and you remove a stem to reposition it, make sure you don’t put it back in the same hole where the watering structure of the foam has been disturbed.

What’s the best way to use Fearless Flowers?

It’s up to you and what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a specific arrangement or suggestions on what to do with the flowers you have, there’s plenty of available stuff on the site in the current videos and in the Gallery. If you want flowers to become a greater part of your life, we suggest you become a member so you can visit regularly and become a totally fearless flower arranger. And keep in mind that a membership makes a great gift for a fearless flower arranging friend. You can also order our Fearless Flower DVD (Edition 1) which has the Annie talking about how she came up with the Fearless Flower idea, ten of Annie’s favorite Fearless Videos plus a tour of her gardens. One of your friends who’s interested in arranging might love one of our DVDs.

You seem to have a million containers, where do you find them all?

Everywhere--garage sales, craft and general retailers, thrift shops, the Internet, Paris—a person can’t have enough containers. My husband says he stopped counting when he got to a hundred but I say why stop when you’re having fun?

Okay, so where do you keep them?

Everywhere--up in my Studio, in the garage, in the utility room, front hall closets, kitchen pantry—anyplace I can find to stuff another container. I must have five closets, two pantries and two racks full of them.

How many pairs of glasses do you have?

Not telling. Have to have some secrets.

• Slightly Fearless *
• Almost Fearless **
• Totally Fearless ***
• Simply Stunning