My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Apples and Orchids

This is a wired bridal bouquet.

Wired Apples and green Cymbidium Orchids

As you can imagine it is a relatively weighty design and balance is incredibly important. Start by assembling the apples to create almost an armature for the orchids to nestle into.

Each apple is wired to craft stems that can bend and twist into place. Once the design feels comfortable to hold and the fruit is secure you can wire in the orchids.

I placed the orchids in small test tubes as a water supply and then I wire each test tube to have a stem to secure into the design

Note:

The Ethylene gas that fruit and vegetables emits cause flowers to wilt quicker. Do not store fruit and vegetables close to flowers. Dipping fruit in a thin layer of wax can help prevent this. It is also important to seal the wound made when attaching a wire to the fruit.

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Tutorials
Wire apples and seal the insertion point
20 May 2011
Wire apples and seal the insertion point

Adding whole apples to a hand-tied or wired design is easier if each apple is wired to craft stems that can bend and twist into place. For an arrangement I would recommend using picks or sticks instead of wires
Cover fruit with wax
8 March 2011
Cover fruit with wax

Dipping red grapes in pale wax creates a cloudy layer that is not only anti-bacterial (prevents fruit from spoiling and releasing the ethylene gas) but also gives depth and instantly attracts attention.
Favourite Flowers
Cymbidium
Cymbidium

Cymbidium orchids for my Designing your way to profits article that was featured in the Canadian Florist Magazine