Floral Perspective: Autumn Floral Feast with Beth O'Reilly AIFD

Hi, I'm Beth O'Reilly, AIFD, and I'm back for the month of September. And as we look towards fall, we're taking a nod towards the autumnal tones with beautiful Awesome Blossoms from Mayesh. And I've created another sculptural arrangement using an armature that I... I like to use this armature from time to time. It's something that I create by using foam. I use the two-inch thick foam that you can get at any wholesale house. And you also, from Oasis, can get the discs pre-cut. But I've cut these, and I glue the discs together. And that's actually what's holding the form inside this arrangement. So I've purposely left the arrangement unfinished in the back so that I can show you just the mystery of the mechanics. This arrangement would be great on a food table for a wedding, an entry piece. Usually when I create this piece, I make it in pieces so that I don't try to deliver the whole thing in the van. It comes apart in pieces and goes together in pieces. So as you can see, I've stacked a bunch of discs. I've created my foam base, and I've actually staked the foam. They're all glued together, and I've staked the foam into the Oasis. I use the long hyacinth stakes. I have one right here. And sometimes I even use a hammer and just kind of, the more you put it at an angle when you're securing it, the better it will hold. And I do the same for the orb on top. This is just an 8-inch Oasis orb that's paved with beautiful roses. And as you can see, part of what makes this so unique is all of the stem work that we've done. And I'm going to show you just how that's done. It's a very easy technique. I've used a combination of green goddess calla lilies. And even the calla lily foliage is wonderful to work with. Sometimes this doesn't hold up as well, so in this application, it's going to work quite nicely. I also cut a bunch of wire, just about a couple inches long, and I'll make my own greening pins. So all it takes is the calla lily, the stems, and the greening pins. And I just layer each stem on top of another, kind of contouring as I go. So one stem will fit right up against another stem. And I use these greening pins on the side so that when I'm all done, they're pretty well hidden. And we're just holding those in place. And then I'm going to take another one. I'm just going to keep on filling it in. From time to time, I'm using the foliage. It's a nice filler. It kind of adds another dimension. And flowers are one of those things that I can't imagine living in this world without. They are kind of a metaphor for our own human condition. They're prone to degradation, yet they maintain their strength and sustenance just like we do. And I look out into the world and wonder what it would be like if we didn't have all the flowers and the foliage. And even though it lives only for a short time, it doesn't make it any less viable as a piece of art, a work of art. And we as floral designers have that opportunity to create art with fresh flowers. Not many people get to do that. So I'll just keep filling this in, finish this arrangement out. I really want to kind of explain the depth and the lushness and all of the wonderful things that we have, the lusciousness. It's decadent. I mean, it's definitely something that is fit for a feast. We've got apples, we've got the open papayas, which are gorgeous. I love the color of the papayas. They just bring out all of the beautiful tones that we're working with. These coral dahlias are just beautiful. I'm going to tuck a few of these in just to keep the momentum of the arrangement. Also working with a little bit of the kiwi vine. And I think this is great for just a little touch of fall. And I've even tucked some grapes in, some rose hips. The rose hips are gorgeous from Mayesh. These are not your little rose hips. These are big monster rose hips to go in a big monster arrangement. And gorgeous, gorgeous coxcomb. I like to utilize the papayas as actually a place to highlight just a few of the flowers. Just adds such a nice touch. You can imagine this on a food table or a buffet table and just really capturing your guest's attention with something totally unique and wonderful. A special surprise that no one was expecting. That's my favorite part about flowers, is giving people a way of experiencing flowers that they didn't expect. And you can do that with Mayesh and their wonderful flowers. And I hope to do it again with you soon. We'll be picking the Mayesh Design Star in November, and I sure hope I'll be back in 2015 to bring you 12 more series of wonderful, inspirational, awesome blossoms. I'm Beth O'Reilly. Thanks again for watching.