On my online workbook this week: Canna cafe au lait dahlia be any more hold-your-breath magnificent?

Dear

This week’s inspiration is genuinely living up to the hype… it’s true what they say: Cafe au lait dahlias are magnificent. I have tried… and failed many, many times to grow cafe au lait dahlias in my balcony garden. And someone at Flower Club said to give them just one more go… and just look! This year they have been flowering non stop.

But oh my, do they test our design skills. Dahlias, especially dinnerplate dahlias like Cafe au Lait will require you to design with each individual flower in mind. They are all slightly different!

My tip for you this week is to start designing with sensitive and opinionated flowers like dahlias long before even touching the flowers. When you design with your eyes first you can choose and allocate the exact disk shaped flower (like gerberas or sunflowers and yes, dahlias) you need to place in the perfect spot in your design.

Because Cafe au Lait dahlias bruise so easily (sensitive) and they face in a specific direction on the stem (they always look like they have very strong opinions) it is difficult to try and test the perfect spot for each flower in your design without also over-handling the flower. Condition the flowers in a generous size bucket (overcrowding the flowers will cause it to bruise or shatter) that not only supports the flower heads but also makes it easy for you to identify which flowers you will need for what placement. And maybe identify a plan B flower as well… just in case. Then when the dahlias are plump and hydrated you are also prepared and ready to design and know exactly which flower you need for where.

How to spot the right shape: for this week’s design I needed 3 flat flowers to create a base, so I simply allocated the largest flower heads for this position in my design. You see, as a general rule, the larger the flower in the bunch the flatter the flower head will be and the smaller flowers in every bunch will always be a bit more rounded.

Next look at the inflorescence or how the flower sits on the stem. Do not even try to manipulate dahlias into an unnatural position. Make use of the way that the flower is naturally positioned on the stem to “face” (technical term) or angle the flower exactly the direction you require. Bonus if you have a few flowers and can place them in a way so that they lean towards, and face, each other just like they are having a nice and cozy chat.

This facing technique creates interest and movement in even the lowest most compact designs so that our eyes are drawn through the design. It is also the “go-to” trick to instantly update the look of your design.

Enjoy!

Every good wish,

Christine

ps: The natural oils on your fingers react with the pigments in the dahlia flowers, leading to a change in colour or a bruise-like discolouration on the creamy petals. Use a paint brush to adjust any petals in your design. See the picture above.