Champagne: Flower colour of Christmas
Are you going to put a few vases of cut flowers around your rooms this Christmas?
Champagne tones of creamy white with a dash of silver are the hottest colour trend this year, according to top Vancouver florist Maureen Sullivan, of Thomas Hobbs Florist in Kerrisdale.
"We are doing a lot of centrepieces and displays on a champagne theme, mainly featuring whites and creams to create the sparkly champagne look," she says.
"Cream roses are great with a little touch of white or silver. We usually dress up displays with some baubles to complete the desired look."
If you are considering doing something simpler, such as a vase of tulips, forget about all those old notions that you can prolong the life of your tulips by slicing through the neck of the stem or by pushing a pin through or by tossing a penny into the water. It's all a waste of time and the science is non-existent.
"There are a lot of tricks people use — a splash of gin in the water, drop a penny into the water. I don't think any of them work," says Sullivan.
As for slicing into the neck or poking a pin through the stem, Sullivan suspects this is something to do with trying to stop the tulips from continuing to grow in the vase.
"It is a fact that tulips keep on growing after being cut," she says. "That's one of the reasons I prefer to display them solo and just let them dance."
"If you mix tulips with other flowers, they very quickly grow three or four inches taller than everything else."
The key is to cut your tulips to the length you want, while acknowledging that they will grow a little bit taller.
"Then let them do their thing, let them dance — grow up and out, moving this way and that. It's part of the fun of having them."
Another tip with cut tulips is to always place them in cold water, says Sullivan. "They come from a bulb in cold ground, so the flowers like being in cool water. They also don't mind if you put them in a cool room."
Cutting roses requires more care, says Sullivan.
"You have to get your vase ready first, filled with nice lukewarm water, before you start.
"Cut one stem at a time and put it directly into the water. You can't cut and stop and chit-chat because the stem will seal over and then the rose won't be able to drink.
"You can cut the stems under water which is harder but even better. However, this can be a bit tricky for some people."
Sullivan says if a rose suddenly starts to tilt over or has a bent neck it is usually because the stem has heeled over and needs to be re-cut.
"If a rose stem has a hole in it, perhaps because you cut the thorn off too deeply, it will also flop and start to die because it is not able to drink; it's like a hole in a straw," she says.
One of Sullivan's favourite techniques when making Christmas displays is to group a few large amaryllis in a container.
Multi-stemmed varieties such as 'Red Lion' and 'Apple Blossom' look good combined with huckleberry twigs, which add interest, as well as extra support for the heavy amaryllis flowers.
Branches of blue-berried viburnum, silver oregonia (variegated boxwood) and fir branches are other attractive plant materials to use in a Christmas display.
Sugared fruit, privet, holly berries, skimmia, cymbidium orchids and pine cones are also worth considering, says Sullivan.
"Take a few apples or pears, paint them with egg-white, then sprinkle with berry sugar. It looks terrific."
Another idea is to take a tall glass vase and fill it with a mixture of shiny Christmas baubles and huckleberry twigs. Or fill a cylinder-shaped vase with apples and water with a white candle floating on top.
"Time spent on decorating with flowers or plant material for the holidays is always rewarding. Your guests will appreciate the effort you've taken," she says.
By Steve Whysall, Vancouver Sun
