Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Straight up and down icicle, clematis vine and huckleberry twig double vase winter display
- 29 January 2025
- click to send Christine a smile
My design mechanic is simply two glass display containers...
Stand the low container in the vase so that it stands upright.
Pour water into both containers so that you can curve the fresh vines to remain hydrated.
Add a dusting of artificial snow to some huckleberry twigs.
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how I add the snow to twigs.
Curve the fresh huckleberry stems to slip into the upright display container.
Arrange the stems so that they line the shallow container, but not fill it. The design should be light and airy... with plenty of room for the twigs and the vines to grow and develop.
Groom a clematis vine by first snipping away any bruised flowers and the large foliage... but not the foliage stems. Those add so much personality.
Oh yes, you are right. New growth is notoriously difficult to condition. Book readers turn to page 74 where I talk about conditioning plant material, from a plant's perspective, and show you how I condition my new growth. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman This design is a larger version of exactly that.
Slip the vine stem to curve in the bottom of the round container...
And guide the vine inside (and around if that is possible) to display the beautiful fresh stems.
Glue in a curved huckleberry stem to the front of the container to make sure you have a neat line following the circle. I use hot glue because it is easy to soak off when I clean my containers.
... and adjust the vine stems to follow the curve but make sure the clematis stems are well below the water line so that they remain hydrated.
It is really important to work carefully. It will not be easy to remove any debris that falls into the water and sinks into the bottom container and any bits that float around will absolutely show... and possibly spoil the whole look of the design and certainly the longevity. This week in our email I share with you my tip for how I clean my double container designs. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) the moment the new design is ready to view. And I include a tip for you to view before looking at the design so that you can make the most of each week's design inspiration. The sign up is below this post.
Now... I had a bit of a design mystery to solve. I wanted my icicles to be extremely and severely straight to contrast the winding vines and contorted stems from the cut-away foliage. If I hanged them using a tie they dangle, so that was removed first. I did not want a dangle. But if I hooked the icicles they hanged following the curve of whatever stem, at an angle. See the picture above.
The icicles solved the problem for me. They are extremely fragile. And even the slightest bump breaks them. Meaning I had a handful of broken icicles. Turns out that was a good thing... a very good thing!
The broken icicle gives me a larger (more control over how I position them) and completely flat surface (stronger bond even on a smaller stem) to glue them into the design.
Meaning I now have complete control of how I glue the icicle so that it hangs exactly in the right position. Without any dangle or angle.
Whether that is pointing the icicle up or down.
And to think I was disappointed at first seeing the few broken icicles.. they are perfect!
... and I could also glue in icicles to hang from the glass container.
To finish the design I added a few passion fruit vines to climb up the design.
And a few thinner huckleberry twigs to grow over the vine.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter
Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.
