Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
A roll-and-tuck to stay hydrated leaf armature that gives those tendrils time to grow into the design
- 24 June 2026
My display container is a low tray and I am setting a Kenzan into it so that I can spear a Passiflora vine into that to drape over the design.
Book readers turn to page 160 to read all about designing with a flower frog (Kenzan) you need to make sure it is firmly secured. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
To get you started I have also linked a Tutorial for you below this post.
Cut a few large green leaves to roll up for your design. You can absolutely use the exact same size foliage to give a more uniform look (see a design example linked below this post) But I wanted mine to look a bit overgrown so I stacked my foliage from big to small so that I can see exactly what size I need to add when.
Roll the leaf over and pierce the stem through the leaf to secure it. See below for a more detailed Tutorial.
Line up the leaf rolls by placing them so that the cut stem end is flat along the display container surface and the next leaf is on top of the stem end.
One roll after the next and after the next.
Fit leaf rolls on both sides of the kenzan making sure the stem ends are flat along the container surface so that they remain hydrated.
Design note: notice when I start on this side of the Kenzan I am reversing the direction of the stem ends? Make sure the stem ends point into the longest part of the container so that they don't get pushed out as they rehydrate or when you add flowers.
Roll two leaves and push them into the Kenzan teeth to conceal the Kenzan.
Careful though, the metal teeth are sharp. I explain what I use to push in the plant material instead of my finger in our email this week. Every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time), I send out a design note as an early glimpse at the newest Design and a few notes that I picked up creating the Tutorial that might be useful to you.
If you’re new here, you can sign up below this post. And if you’ve been receiving these notes for some time, I hope they feel like a welcome break in your busy week.
To finish the leaf line up so that you are ready to start with the design. Fill the container with water.
Position the passion fruit vine by tucking the vine into the teeth of the Kenzan so that it lifts and drapes over the design.
Spear and drape the vines to create an overgrown second layer draped over the rolled up leaves.
Spear in a freesia flower spike and allow it to follow the drape of the vines.
Cut the freesia stems shorter and tuck them in between the leaf rolls and finish the design with a few dew drop crystals to add sparkle.
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how I add the crystals to make sure I do not damage the plant material.
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