Build A Garden Bouquet {Sponsored by Laura Ashley}

As summer seems in full flow, I thought it would be a good idea to bring you some inspiration from the garden. But rather talk about planters and picnics, I thought I would share a little "How to" to help you develop a skill and really to just offer you something that you can find great enjoyment from.

Last year I decided that I was going to put more time into my garden. It was already a thriving space but a bit mismatched. Living in the city and having two young children, most of our garden space is used for playing, but I have a lovely side border that I have worked on for a few years now and I am really receiving the fruits now. I have peonies now blooming and beautiful English roses, even my hydrangeas have full buds ready to come out in the next month. With all these filling my border I thought I would make a hedgerow bouquet and share a few florist's tips I have learned over my time in our family flower shop!

I went out to my Mum's for some extra blooms; her garden is very wild with bushes of different flowers all over. Having trimmed a few I ended up with a beautiful range in a great mix of colours. What I love about garden flowers, especially the likes of peonies and garden roses is that you get that fullness in blooms; all the petals that are just pouring out and they really add a beautiful element to any arrangement you make. Garden flowers also off a more variegated colour scheme. They are not shop bought perfect and some sweet peas had a real ombré tone from purple to fuchsia and I love that.

When it comes to working with garden flowers the one thing that you need to be conscious of is that they will not last as long as shop bought ones. If you were preparing for an even or even making your own bridal bouquet you really need to do it as close to the date as possible. Garden flowers can be incredibly delicate and once cut, can drop. Just something to think about.

I have made a hand-tie bouquet which would be perfect for a country bride but could equally sit on a table and be used in the home.

Build a bouquet

Prep work can be minimal. Make sure you have no leaves on the lower part of the stems; any part that would be in water for example as it will leave mould and dirty your water very quickly.

Then starting with three strong and straight stems collect them in your hand as this will be what you add all your other stems to; your starting point. I like to start with two bits of greenery and a flower.

Then one stem at a time, add all your other blooms. My Mum has a nice green eucalyptus tree which is a really nice colour to have for summer bouquets, but herbs like bay or rosemary are also really beautiful greens you could put in a hand-tie.

The key with adding in is that you place each stem across the one before. It sounds weird but if you have a handful of stems, insert the next one on top slightly diagonally and then turn the whole bouquet an inch clockwise. You are putting the stems around the edge but actually you create this very secure spiral which eventually gives you that beautiful round. The idea is that you keep moving the bouquet around when you are making a hand-tie and you build it up in a circular motion rather than standing stems straight next to each other, like you would do if filling a vase.

Build it up in any way you want. Florists traditionally work in odd numbers, so with each variety try not to make it even or symmetrical as you will lose that wild garden effect.

I used a lot of my shorter stemmed flowers for putting in last, so these surround the bouquet almost. For me, it was a bunch of sweet peas but they sat so nicely round the edge and it was perfect. You could use some trailing green around the edge and that will also make a beautiful wild and free effect.

Tie it off with some string. If it is big, wrap it round a few times but be careful not to break the stems. Trim your stems straight across leaving enough stem for it to either sit in a vase or suit being carried in a more formal way. Then for me, I tied a bunch of ribbons individually around just to give me some movement when holding it. I love how ribbons blow in a breeze!