Ask Ella: How To Use Succulents & Air Plants In Bouquets
Ask Ella is a recurring Garden Collage feature where we ask our in-house florist, Ella Stavonsky, about floral design– including the history of, origin, and maintenance that goes into some of the most intriguing flowers on the market today. This column is dedicated exclusively to common and rare varieties of flowers you’re likely to find at your local market. This week, we spotlight how to incorporate air plants and succulents into arrangements.
Hot weather can destroy the best made plans– especially if those plans involve plants. (We’ve seen all too many bouquets keel over in a matter of hours.) Previously, we covered using what plants are the most qualified to stand up to the heat, but there are two that stand out from the pack as being especially qualified to stay cool under hot temperatures: succulents and air plants.
While the idea of putting succulents and air plants in a bouquet might seem a bit counterintuitive (don’t they belong on your windowsill, keeping your perfectly curated #aesthetic in tune?), they’re actually quite easy to use as an element of floral design, and can return to your Pinterest worthy corner when they’ve finished a tour in an arrangement.
To incorporate the succulents, you’ll need a few tools: floral wire, floral tape, and chopsticks (or something similarly tall and strong that can withstand the top heavy weight of a succulent. For the succulents themselves, you’ll want to look for succulents with a longer, thicker stem. Taking the floral wire, thread it through the base of the stem, directly through the center, and then use the floral wire to wrap it around the chopstick. Next, take the floral tape and wrap this around the wire and chopstick, so that it blends in to the rest of the stems. For air plants, similarly thread floral wire through the base, as low to the bottom as possible.
As regards care, be sure to mist them once a day. When you’re finished with the arrangement, simply remove the floral wire, and restore your succulent to its full-time residence.
Ready to get adventurous? Try taking those succulents to the next level in a botanic chandelier.
