21/06/2025
.flowers.week Day 5, and a little bit behind the scenes at HOMEstead GROWN HQ. Specifically, what lurks under the flower arranging?
Well if there's one thing you can be sure of, it won't be oasis / floral foam which contributes needlessly to the global problem of micro-plastic pollution as it crumbles and enters our soil, food chains and watercourses.
Of course when Oasis was the new wonder-product of the 1950s, we didn't know that it would never degrade and that beautiful arrangements would - ironically - be harming the planet.
Now that we know it, there's a choice. The fast-growing movement of sustainable floristry is championing back-to-natural mechanics to support flowers and foliage, like we always used to: moss, chicken wire, branches, flower 'frogs', and new, creative ways.
I give you...
1) My newest £8 vintage acquisition with the brilliant wire device cemented inside to hold flowers in position.
2) A few more vintage charity shop finds to arrange without floral foam - pop chicken wire inside the bigger vases.
3 , 4 & 5) A completely compostable wreath: a vine-stem base on which to bind moisture-retaining moss and British-grown seasonal flowers & foliage with twine. Gentle, 'green' funeral tribute ('farewell') flowers.
6) A natural, compostable, mineral product in compressed blocks called Agra-Wool, although the processes used to make it mean that it's still not completely eco-friendly. So I'm aiming to use it less.
7) Meadow boxes: Pack a box with jam jars, top the lot with chicken wire and let the flowers & foliage do the arranging for you.
8 & 9) The hugest of wedding pedestal arrangements is possible with all stems supported in chicken wire inside the container.
10) We made a structure in plaster in pots with cones tied at intervals to hold water and chicken wire: a 'broken' floral arch to stuff with billowing branches and blooms, no floral foam needed.
It takes more effort and thought, but I love every creative challenge and wouldn't do it any other way.
What do you think?
