Nan Nan

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    FLOWER arrangements have been popular for centuries. Many people consider floral arrangements to require in-depth knowledge about flowers and special training in floristry to create a perfectly balanced work.

    However, not all flower arrangements need to have flowers. And there are no rules in flower arranging. Anyone could create a beautiful flower arrangement by using materials from your local grocer.

    Tasty vegetables can be pretty and you can still cook them afterwards. Using vegetables in flower arrangements is cheap and environmentally friendly.

    The training director of Luming Flowers Ji Mengyan, a national flower arrangement technician and a member of the Chinese Association of Flower Arrangement Art, shared some useful techniques for flower arrangement at Carbon Talk, a seminar organized by the Shenzhen Library and the non-profit Green & Low-Carbon Development Foundation (GDF) on Sunday. GDF focuses on research and raising the public awareness of low-carbon lifestyle.

    Ji showed participants how to use sweet potatoes — a common vegetable and a seasonal product harvested in autumn — to make a piece of beautiful art. Start with a sweet potato, then cut it in half. Bundle one half of the sweet potato and a flower you like (Ji used rose) together using hemp cord, and they’re ready to go into the arrangement. The sweet potato here is used as a vessel. Basically, you repeat these steps a few times and line up the sweet potatoes on a plate. Then you will have created a unique, eye-catching floral design.

    The key to this piece is the height of these flowers. Scattered height of the flowers can bring limitless freedom and imagination to your work, said Ji. Don’t forget to put water on the plate. If the sweet potatoes are soaked in water, they will become even more beautiful when their leaves sprout.

    Feel free to be creative with what colors and species of flowers you choose. Remember that you can never go wrong with in-season blooms. When determining what colors to use, cold-colored flowers are for the summer while rich and bright colors are best in winter. If you want to put flowers in your bedroom, make sure to avoid using fragrant flowers or flowers with large blooms as your sleep maybe affected by the scent.

    The second floral design Ji showed is simpler to make and goes perfectly in your kitchen. Wine glasses are commonly found in almost any home and for this arrangement your glass will be used as a vessel. As well, Ji recommends that for this particular arrangement you use the Chinese leek flower. For the arrangement, first grab a handful of leek flowers making sure that the flowers are of roughly equal length. Then, gently twist the flowers, rounding them as you place them into the glass. For the second layer of your design make sure to use a different flower. For Ji’s design she used daisy as the purple of the daisy contrasts wonderfully with the green of the leek.

    Once you have finished arranging your flowers, maintenance is important. All natural flowers will eventually wilt, but you can keep them fresh by following these tips.

    Try to keep your flowers out of direct sunlight, direct heat and the wind from air conditioners.

    Each day, you should change the water, wash the flower stems and cut a bit off the end at an angle. The angle makes a larger surface from which the flower can take in water, as well it helps to prevent the stems from sitting right on the bottom of the vase. You can also add two to three drops of disinfectant into the water.

    You should try to keep them away from fruits, as exposure will exacerbate the wilting process.

    Now with these recommendations at hand, you too can enjoy creating a beautiful vegetable and flower set.