Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Squishy lemon water source for a lily
- 23 July 2025
- click to send Christine a smile
Book readers turn to page 199 of my book to read more about using fruits, gourds and vegetables as mechanics. There are absolutely ways that you can use to make sure your design last even longer than this one did by lining the fruit or sealing it or even placing the flower stem into its own little water tube and pressing that into the lemon. For this week's design, however I am using just the lemon and diluting the juice with water... easy peasy lemon... squishy... style.
For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Choose just the right lemon for the mechanics of your design. For one thing it should be blemish free and for another it just sit securely on your display tray. Take a bit of time to let the lemon roll a bit and find the spot that it naturally stops rolling about. Don't skip this step. If you can find a lemon that balance by itself it makes your design job so much easier.
And of course then there's the juice. Do not roll the lemon to make it juicier. In fact it is better to pick a lemon that is actually not all that juicy. I tell you more about picking just the right lemon in our email this week to make it perfect to use as a floral mechanic. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) the moment the latest design is ready for you to view. And I add a bit of detail in the email to help you make the most of each week's inspiration even before seeing the design. The sign up is below this post.
Slice into the lemon with a sharp knife.
Have a good look at your lily stem and what angle you would like to position it in the lemon. Then when you are ready use a skewer to poke one hole into the lemon. Make the hole all the way through from one end of the lemon to the other (to give the flower stem maximum support) but take care not to poke it through the peel so that the juices (and water) runs out.
Try not to break up the lemon and release the juice simply remove the skewer and replace it with a lily stem. It helps if you cut the lily stem to a sharp angle to easily spear into the fruit.
The lily stem should be secure in the lemon so that it is kept upright.
Cut a "v" shape out of the lemon peel so that it fits around the lily stem to help conserve moisture but still make it easy for you to top up the water level.
Place the peel lid back over the lemon opening around the stem.
To finish my design off I am adding shiny crystal "anthers" on to the stamens. Simply place two crystals facing in on the filament so that the two glue sides stick together...
... mimicking the look of the lily anthers.
And finish the design with two more dew drop crystals on the lemon... just for extra sparkle.
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how... and why I add the crystals with a pin.
Use a syringe to add as much clean water into the lemon as you can to dilute the lemon juice so that the lily can remain hydrated.
See the Tutorial below for how I add the tube to the syringe.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised to see how long the flower looked lovely! It will definitely last as a table decoration for an event.
After a day my lily started to show some discolouring on the petal tips.
After two days in my warm design room it was starting to curl in the graceful way that lilies age...
And by day three it was all over but in a really spectacular way.
I do love the graceful way lilies age, don't you agree?
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