Mother's Day Hand-tied Bouquet

Published July 20, 2012

A nice way to tell your Mom you love her is with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

One easy way to do this is to assemble  a hand-tied bouquet. Small and compact, these hand-tied bouquets are simply a bunch of flowers and foliage that has been spiraled in the hand and then fastened at the binding point.

Once given to the recipient, the bouquet is simply placed in a vase and displayed as is.

It ‘s best to start with flowers that are straight and strong such as roses and make sure all flowers are cleaned of any foliage and thorns. The bunch is difficult to bind if there is any greenery at the binding point.

Materials

• 36 long stem roses (or other sturdy, strong flower)
• 9 aspidistra leaves (optional)
• floral wire
• ribbon
• sharp knife
• floral preservative

Roses are easy to work with and produce stunning results. Begin by conditioning your roses by cutting each stem on a sharp angle and soaking them in room temperature water that has been treated with floral preservative for 1-2 hours. Cutting the stems under water is a good idea to open up the stem and allow more water to be absorbed.

Once this is done you may clean off the rose stems of any foliage and thorns. Use rubber gloves when doing this to prevent damage to your hands.

Take the center rose in one hand and place the next rose to the left of the first at a 20-30 degree angle. Position the third rose in a similar fashion to the left until you are assembling a fan of roses. Once you have come to this point, start turning them by taking your other hand and twisting them a little each time. Continue to add the stems in the same manner until you are left with a round shape of rose heads. Tie securely with floral wire.

To finish off, simply tie the tip of the aspidistra leaf to the stem and tie with wire. Repeat on all 9 stems.

Cut a piece of ribbon long enough to tie around the bouquet and set aside.

One by one add each leaf to surround the bouquet until the stems are completely covered. With your cut piece of ribbon, tie around the aspidistra leaves and finish with a bow.

Keep the stems in water until you are ready to give to your Mom as a gift.