Kitchen Essential

It is important to start by choosing a colour scheme for the table setting and then to choose flowers that suit the style of the meal, the colour of the table linens, the china to be used and any candles to be placed on the table. The appearance of the room and the dinner table can be effectively varied by using flowers of different colours arranged in different ways. Several large arrangements of flowers can be placed around the room to echo the theme chosen for the table, and a much smaller arrangement should be used on the table itself. Tall vases and large spreading arrangements placed on the table are too intrusive and may mean that people cannot easily talk to each other across the table.

The table flower arrangement should be kept low and central, spreading gently outwards rather than upwards. The shape of the vase used is all important as it will affect the height of the flowers and the way they spread. Choose a low shallow vase and place inside a piece of crumpled chicken wire or oasis; this will hold the stems in place. For a really professional look each flower stem may be individually wired. Wire comes in various thicknesses according to the delicacy of the flower stem and for short stems a single wire can be cut in half with short scissors. The wire is pushed in near the flower head, bound to the stem with narrow green florists’ tape which is stretchable and self-adhesive. The advantage of stem wiring is that you can gently move flower-heads or wired trails of leaves to create the desired effect without breaking delicate stems. All the necessary accessories are available at florists’ shops.

Don’t rule out the possibility of using containers other than vases for your flower arrangements. Old-fashioned milk jugs, antique glasses, cream jugs, interesting fruit bowls, stoneware jelly- moulds, pretty porcelain tea pots or coffee pots all make very suitable vases.

Keep small jars and bottles to make a basic arrangement which can be placed inside an unusual container. This is an added safeguard if the container itself is cracked or slightly damaged and liable to leak water on to furniture.

Caring for fresh flowers

When buying flowers, if you need an arrangement that is going to last, ask the florist for advice on flowers that will not wilt or drop their petals quickly. Some florists supply sachets of crystals that, will ensure long life to cut flowers. If you want to create a stunning centre piece for just one evening, choose flowers that may not last very long but that are exactly the colour you need and that look more dramatic. It is possible to buy such flowers more cheaply.

Always ask the florist for advice on how best to care for flowers and never leave bunches of flowers lying around in their paper wrapping. As soon as possible, remove the wrapping and stand the flowers in a bucket of water until you have time to arrange them. Once in water, flowers prefer cool, airy rooms but they do need humidity and plenty of fresh cold water. To prevent wilting, make sure that the stems are well opened before placing in the vase. Using a slanting cut, snip the ends of soft stems and hammer the ends of woody stems, such as chrysanthemums, forsythia and roses. This enables them to absorb water more easily. Always remove leaves which will be left below the water level in the vase, as these will rot and pollute the water. Try not to position vases of flowers in a draught or too near a hot radiator. Finally, some flowers drink a lot of water, especially on hot days or in heated rooms. Do remember to top the water up otherwise they will dehydrate and droop.

Flowers picked from the garden should be plunged as soon as possible into a deep bucket of luke-warm water and left there for two to three hours. Floppy flowers, which bend their stems at the head, such as tulips, some roses, poppies etc., should be placed in a bucket with a thick layer of newspaper wrapped tightly around them. This will help to straighten the stem and make arranging easier. Blooms with fleshy stems, such as stocks and snapdragons, are better plunged into moderately hot water after shortening the stem by 1 cm (¹/2 in) with a slanted cut.

Flowers Arranged for Effect

If a small number of flowers are to be used as a table centre there are several ways of displaying them to their full advantage.

1 Snap off the flower heads and float the heads in a shallow bowl with leaves fanning out from underneath the petals. Japanese lotus bowls or rice bowls are ideal for one or more flower heads and are easily available from Japanese shops, or scour junk shops and antique markets for shallow glass or china vases that were made for this purpose.

2 Fix a house plant which has trailing foliage firmly in the centre of a pretty china bowl, deep enough to conceal the plant pot. Pack oasis or crumpled chicken wire around the pot, fill with water and arrange flowers around the pot, bringing out trailers from the plant between the flower heads. Choose plants and flowers that complement each other.

3 Place two or three flowers with a little fern or other foliage in a vase that has a narrow neck. This makes a delicate arrangement quite big enough for a small table. Or, use two or more such vases placed at opposite ends of a larger table.

4 Place single flower heads in small pretty glasses or bowls at each setting. Cocktail or liqueur glasses are ideal for this and if you are lucky enough to find art deco，they will often be made from very beautiful, decorated, frosted or crackle glass.

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