The “Other” Rose Bowl

Know someone who is celebrating a birthday, anniversary, a job well done or who is under the weather and could use a bit of joy?  A simple and simply beautiful arrangement of roses is always a welcome gift.We all need a quick and easy flower arrangement from time to time.  This one is just that.  With some flowers you can pick up at the market or a Trader Joe’s you can make this beautiful arrangement in no time.  All you’ll  need are 16 roses, 20-24 little mums, some lemon leaves and in 10 simple steps you’ll be good to go!

This happens to be made in a square vase but you could use a round one and have a beautiful arrangement in that as well.

Step 1 – Press 1 long leaf around the inside of the vase.  (This is to disguise the oasis or floral foam that will hold your flowers.)  If you don’t have a long leaf to wrap around the inside of the vase use several bunches of smaller leaves.  Rub the front of the leaves with a paper towel with a small amount of vegetable oil on it.  The oil well help the leaves to stick to the glass vase.  If your vase is ceramic and not see through, you can skip this step.

Step 2 – Trim the oasis or florist foam to fit your container.  (NOTE: Floral foam is NOT the same thing as styrofoam).  You can buy florist foam (oasis) from Michaels or any floral supply store.  It is very light and porous and has many tiny holes to help it absorb water.  Soak the oasis in your kitchen sink or a bucket of water until it is saturated. Next, press it into the vase, being careful to keep the leaf or leaves pressed against the sides of the vase, so that the oasis is camouflaged.

Step 3 – Trim the stems of the roses to about 3″ in length.  Pull off any broken or discolored petals from the rose heads so that they look clean and tight.

Step 4 – Leaving approximately 1″ around the edge of the vase, add your first row of 4 roses.  Add a second row and continue until you have used all 16 roses and created a square with the roses.  If your finished “square” isn’t as square as you would like it to be, simply take some of the roses out and adjust their position to create a visually pleasing square.  You can only do this adjusting once or maybe twice because the oasis will begin to break up if you remove and reposition the roses too many times.

Step 5 – Using mums which have had their stems trimmed to a length of approximately 3″, create a border around the roses.  Try to use mums that are similar in size.  You will need about 20 -24 small mums or similar type flower for your border.  Mini carnations would be another good choice. You will probably need between 5-6 flowers for the border on each side.  Be sure you use the same number of flowers in the border on each side of the arrangement.

Step 6 – Insert lemon leaves or other hardy “waxy” looking leaves around the edges of the vase.  Make this row of leaves very full and packed.  It is OK if they are spilling out over the edge of the vase a bit.

Step 7 – Using a pitcher, add more water to your arrangement, as your leaves and flowers will be very thirsty.  Add the water carefully so as not to get water on the rose heads as this will cause the petals to become brown or discolored.

Step 8 – Tie a ribbon or some raffia around the vase.  Use ribbon that is the same, or close in color to the roses you have chosen, or you could use a green ribbon as this will work well with the greenery in the arrangement.  Otherwise, a natural colored raffia is always a good choice.

Step 9 – Deliver your arrangement to the person you are celebrating or cheering up OR place it on your own mantel or dining room table.

Step 10 – Feel that sense of love, joy and abundant living that comes from creating something so beautiful 🙂