Flower arrangements for Christmas spread
Nothing signals the holidays like fresh evergreen boughs, garlands and wreaths in the home. Besides adding loads of rustic charm, they fill rooms and corridors with delicious woodsy scent. To create this tableau suggesting three scenarios for evergreen displays, we enlisted top floral designer Bruno Duarte of Fresh Floral Creations in Toronto. Duarte chose fragrant Carolina Sapphire cypress for its attractive silvery tone and stuck to a palette of green, purple and silver. The result: a trio of ideas suitable for decking halls of every kind.
1. The wreaths
Although wreaths commonly adorn front doors, gates and other thresholds, Duarte used them inside here to decorate a row of French doors. Riots of purple and silver Christmas balls nest in the wreaths in artful clumps, giving them a contemporary feel. The wreaths hang from the doorframe by shiny satin ribbons in a matching shade of rich plum.
2. The garland
Garlands are ideal for enhancing longer fixtures, from mantelpieces to banisters to sideboards. To outfit the back of this long wooden bench, Duarte wired five big cypress boughs to a length of string, then tied an assortment of balls, ornaments and pine cones to the branches, affixing them securely. He finally draped the full seamless swag over each side of the bench, letting the ends cascade to the floor.
3. The centrepiece
Common partners for evergreen boughs include holly berries, pine cones or festive fruits like pomegranates, but orchids? Duarte took the unusual step of pairing the tropical flowers with cypress branches to create this vibrant table arrangement, topping a nest of greenery with exotic purple blooms and assorted purple and silver ornaments. A smattering of green lady slipper orchids provides splashes of electric colour that are nonetheless faithful to the palette.
Floral designs by Bruno Duarte of Fresh Floral Creations (www.freshflorals.com).