How to arrange flowers according to Sydney's best florist

Florist Sean Cook or Mr Cook florist is known for being one of Australia's best florists. His floral installations are inspired and his bouquets are beautiful. And lucky for us, Sean has taken the time to teach us how to arrange flowers in just 10 easy steps.

In this tutorial, Sean combines green and pink flowers of different shapes and textures to create an extravagant arrangement.

Here, the only floral aspects are hydrangeas and roses, picked fresh from the garden or bought from a florist or market. The rest is an eclectic collection of potted plants and cuttings from the garden that are placed next to, not in, the arrangement. But the star is a discarded banksia branch. This arrangement is very large so it’s probably best to arrange your branch where you want it to stay first.

Gather your supplies

Cuttings from a fruiting fig tree (Ficus carica)
Potted chalk sticks (Senecio serpens)
2 potted painted leaf begonias (Begonia rex)
Branch from a banksia tree
3 hydrangea blooms
2 dozen standard red roses
2 dozen red and pink Colombia roses
Large rhipsalis leaf (Selenicereus chrysocardium, formerly Epiphyllum chrysocardium)

You’ll also need

Large bowl; wide shallow container; 2 tall vases (can be different heights and shapes); secateurs

Need to know

Refreshing the water regularly may disturb this large arrangement. Add Milton anti-bacterial tablets (used to sterilise baby-feeding accessories) to water before you start arranging to keep it fresh.

How to arrange flowers according to Sydney's best florist

Step 1

Put the bowl in the shallow container and fill bowl and vases with water.

Bowl in a shallow container - step one of flower arrangement

Step 2

Trim all leaves off fig tree branches to highlight the immature fruit and place in vase.

Step 3

Place vase of fig, potted chalk sticks and begonias next to – not in – the container.

Winter blooms and backyard tidy-ups

Step 4

Put end of banksia branch inside large container but outside bowl and let top end drape across table.

Step 5

Trim hydrangea stems to about 15cm long but keep most of the leaves. Place in bowl.

Step 6

Trim standard red rose stems to about 20cm, remove thorns but keep leaves. Place as a bunch in bowl next to the hydrangeas.

Step 7

Keep the Colombia rose stems as long as possible, but strip all leaves and thorns.

Step 8

Very gently roll back outer petals of Colombia roses.

Step 9

Arrange Colombia roses in bowl.

Step 10

Put rhipsalis leaf in tall vase, behind – not in – the arrangement.

The result!

For more craft ideas, pick up a copy of the June issue in selected newsagents and supermarkets or buy online today!

You might also like:

How to arrange flowers like a pro in just 5 steps

The ultimate guide to Australian native flowers

Want more flower arranging tips? Check out the video below.

Better Homes and Gardens

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