Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Roll gladiolus leaves into tubes to craft a raft for a toad lily stem
- 20 August 2025
- and more
This design will require a bit of prepare ahead effort... I am pinning my leaf rolls with dried firethorns. But...
... you can also use any dried twig instead of the thorns. Cut the twig at a sharp angle to...
... make sure it easily pierce the leaf without ripping it.
Remove any foliage so that your thorns are ready for you to use to secure the rolled leaves.
Roll a leaf (I am using gladiolus leaves) into a tube. I use a Dowel rod to help guide me to create a neat roll.
Remove the leaf tube from the rod...
And secure it with a thorn.
Cut away the extra leaf end neatly.
If you are using a twig instead of a pin to secure the leaf...
Screw the twig through the leaf rather than piercing it through. This way it goes in much smoother and you minimize the risk of the foliage ripping.
Place the leaf rolls on your display container. Overlap the rolls slightly so that you start to curve the shape they form when combined.
Roll and pin two more leaf rolls. Make them slightly smaller so that the shape is tapered to the ends.
The next two leaf rolls are slightly smaller than the ones you rolled before...
Secure the leaf rolls into position with a tiny drop of floral glue to make it easier for you to curve the banana shape.
Spiral roll a leaf around a rod to craft the end pieces. Make sure to secure the leaf into place with floral glue as you spiral it.
Secure the two tapered end pieces into the leaf roll.
Make sure all the cut ends are at the bottom to conceal the pinned ends... and so that the foliage can remain hydrated once you add the water. Snip away any extra leaves so that the roll fits neatly on the display container.
Pour water into the container so that you have a shallow puddle to design in.
Slip your flower into the leaf roll so that it is kept into position by the gap between the sections. I am using a toad lily but any special flower that looks rather exotic (such as an orchid) will work beautifully.
Curl a few blades of lily grass to place into the design.
Book readers turn to page 288 for the best way to curl grasses into ringlets. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
But to get you started you can also try the Tutorial below to practice stretching grasses into curls.
And arrange the curled grass over and around the rolled leaf armature.
Be mindful of where you add the grasses though. You want the design to remain clutter free. This week in our email I tell you how I design to keep my cut ends of my stems tidy and tucked away. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) the moment the latest design is ready for you to view. I also add a tip to the email so that you have the "inside scoop" even before you view the latest inspiration design. The sign up is below this post.
And I scatter a few dew drop crystals to add a bit of sparkle to my design to finish it off. See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions.
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