Herself's Houseplants

I recently attended a talk on tiny flower arrangements by Iris Leon, owner of Pod Flower Design. All the flower arrangements in the photos are under 8″x8″x8″. If you look closely you’ll recognize, candle holders, tea light holders, sushi sauce dishes as some of the containers.

Here are some tips on small flower arrangements:
1. Herbs make great sources for small flowers. The flowers are small, many have small leaves and you have the benefit of the lovely scent from many of them.

2. Floral tack is a great help. You can buy it at your local craft store. It comes in rolls and is thin and sticky. You can mount your green foam on your container with it.

3. Floral tape comes in green and clear. Clear is good for glass containers. One or two strips across your foam to the container will hold your foam in place and the clear won’t show. Do not cover all of the foam, it interferes too much with flower placement. You need all of the space on the foam for small arrangements.

4. Soak your green foam first and then just spray your arrangement with water and it should last a week.

5. Use flowers in bud not open for a longer arrangement.

6. Use tweezers to insert the stems into the foam, your fingers are too large.

7. Do not poke holes in the foam first. You’ll need every bit of that foam space.

8. Work on your creations at the same level they will be viewed from.

9. When bending leaves and grass for the more modern arrangements warm them up first and they will be less likely to crack or break on you.

10. Needlepoint plastic also works well. You can cut it to fit inside your container and insert your stems into the plastic holes.

Growing orchids in glass containers is a nice way to modernize your display.

If you have orchids that are young or do not get large you can plant them in large glass containers. I have some planted in sphagnum moss, some in regular potting soil, others in bark.

The trick is to keep the roots moist with out letting water collect at the bottom of the container. And that is more difficult than it sounds.

I have a spray bottle with 10% the regular dose of fertilizer and water. When the roots stop looking green or the planting medium feels dry, I spray the plants until the roots and media are damp. I find that’s about twice a week in the winter when the house is dry. I spray them about once a week in the summer when it’s much more humid in here.

I find phalaenopsis do not do well in glass containers, every other orchid I’ve had in a glass container has thrived.

Cleaning the nooks and crannies of the glass containers can be a challenge. My favorite way is to use some table salt and ice and just shake it around the container. Other people have recommended salt and vinegar or alka seltzer or baking soda and vinegar.