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design
of the month

harvest blooms

Add “shock” value to an autumnal arrangement.

Sheaves of grain are ubiquitous this time of year. But rather than abandon them completely, use cereal grasses, such as oats, wheat, rye, barley and the like, in inventive ways. You’ll capture the flavor of the season and distinguish your floral department from all the rest.

This arrangement, which has the look of a hand-tied bouquet, features a natural-looking “sheaf” of barley stems. The sheaf conceals a cylinder vase that holds premium fresh-cut flowers in a radiant harvest palette. Picking up the warm hues of the miniature callas and Gerberas, a length of plaid ribbon, tied into a simple knot, is used to conceal the mechanics.

MATERIALS: miniature callas from CallaCo; miniature Gerberas from Green Valley Floral; Hypericum from favorite supplier; barley from Knud Nielsen Company; ribbon from Berwick Offray; cylinder vase from Syndicate Sales, Inc.


How to 1 Gather stems of barley into a bunch by hand, and turn the bunch upside down, with the heads resting on a flat surface. Trim the stem ends evenly.		How to 2 Place a rubber band around a cylinder vase. Arrange the barley stems under the rubber band, at a slight angle, covering the entire vase.		How to 3 Tie a length of decorative ribbon around the rubber band, using a simple knot, to conceal the mechanics.