A modern floral design with Colleen Fernie using coloured flower tubes, July 2003.

Coloured flower tubes have never been available before. In a worldwide exclusive, Colleen Fernie presents a very modern design for you to try using the yellow tubes.These flower phials give the modern designer freedom of expression as they become design accents, complementing the flowers and plant material used in the flower arrangements.

The teacher in this lesson is Colleen Fernie is a well respected contributor to 'floral design' magazine and also a qualified Floral Art teacher, judge and demonstrator in New Zealand. She helped write the definitive text "Flair" for the Floral Art Society of New Zealand, and has been actively involved in the education of emerging florists and floral artists for many years.

Colleen is also a member of the floral design team with regular series featured in the floral design magazine. Subscriptions and more information about floral design available here

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OK..ARE YOU READY TO HAVE A GO? LET'S DO IT....

The new coloured flower tubes give a whole new freedom to designing without floral foam. Made to be seen they are useful accents or focal points in modern design. Colleen Fernie begins here the first of a 4 part series on designing with these new flower tubes

This is an elegant ethereal construction made with long lengths of weeping willow woven through wire netting making a magical setting for the sheer elegance and beauty of the calla lily.

The sophisticated use of coloured flower tubes to hold the water allows the designer to create a floral design with clarity while, at the same time, the coloured floral test tubes become a strong design feature.

Click on the picture above for a bigger view.

The mechanics:
Take 1/2 metre of silver, 2 cm gauge, wire netting, cut into the shape required and spray it with gold or brass paint.

Outline the shape of your wire netting by weaving weeping willow along the edge first. Then continue to weave supple long lengths of yellow weeping willow in patterns through the wire shape until the willow dominates over the wire netting.

Bend, roll and squeeze into the shape required. This is a great time for the creative mind!

The flower tubes:
The coloured yellow tubes are easily placed through the structure where necessary. They can be just supported by the willow and wire netting framework or glued in place for more stability.

Click on the picture on the left for a bigger view.

The Flowers:

Colleen chose calla lily to give a sophisticated contrast to the finery of the willow construction. Many other choices of plant material could be used although those with a smoother texture do 'contrast' better.

Two long stems were pushed into the water filled tubes which were attached to the wire netting. Slightly warmed and stroked with a soft touch, these stems will bend to the curve you require.

Curve them around the design and attach to the netting in the required position with paper covered vine wire.
Cut the stems of the other callas very short and on an angle (pictured above) and insert into the 5 yellow flower tubes which have been attached in a row.

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