Hitomi’s Lecture Notes

BOTANICAL LIST: Winterberry (Ilex verticillata); Kochia childsii; Peony (Paeonia lactiflora); Disbud Mum; Fasciated willow (Salix udensis ‘Sekka’); Carolina Sapphire (Cupressus arizonica var. glabra); Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora); Seeded Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus cinerea); Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens); Variegated Holly (Ilex aquifolium ‘Argenteo marginata’);Banyan Roots (Ficus benghalenses)

SUPPLY LIST: IKEA ‘Torka’ Willow Sticks; Bongo Ties; Beeswax Hemp Strint

The purest organic design that we can create is a simple hand-tied bouquet made with flowers and foliages.

In my example, I wanted to create a little more technical hand-tied bouquet that allowed me to place the stems with a little more breathing room… less is more bouquet… ability to create bigger, more impactful bouquet with a set of product.

The structure provide ability for variation in shape, economy of means with more interesting distribution of material placement. The built-in fasciated willow into the structure allows for fixed placement to flatter the flowers. The structure was built in advance with combination of IKEA ‘Torka’ willow sticks and fasciated willow bound tightly together with beeswax hemp string.

TIP on tying: Take a length of string and wrap over the 2 sticks, and where they cross, wrap between the sticks to the other side and twist tight… the wax is sticky, and tightens the binding securely. The more you repeat and practice this process, the faster and confident you will become with this binding technique.

Start by placing different sprigs of greens into the quadrants… and begin designing variety of flowers in order to create visual flow.

Ilex - Height back to front flow
Kochia - Mid height and textural flow back to front
Disbud Mums - Anchor at basing
Peony - Feature lift floating
Anthurium - Anchor color and shape feature in the front

Finish off with greens and tie with Bongo tie.

Adding extra stems is easy with Bongo tie…. The rubber band stretches to accommodate additions wherever you want.

When the flowers are finished, discarding them to compost is quick and easy, by releasing the bongo tie.

This bouquet in its entirety is 100% compostable.

*Please note: Rubber band is organic but it does not break down quickly in compost so avoid discarding it, plan to reuse them. Also birds might ingest rubber band mistaking it for worms, so please avoid throwing rubber bands into compost.

BOTANICAL LIST: Ranunculus asiatica; Cotoneaster berry cluster (Cotoneaster horizontalis); Rosehip (Rosa rugosa); Variegated Holly Tips (Ilex aquifolium); Variegated Boxwood (Buxus elegantissima); Seeded Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus cinerea); Leucadendron cones (Leucadendron ‘Jubilee Crown’); Brunia albiflora; Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); Carolina Sapphire (Cupressus arizonica var. glabra); Pine cones (Pinus var.)

SUPPLY LIST: Coated Chickenwire; Bongo ties; 12” Heavy Clear Glass Cylinder; IKEA ‘Torka’ Willow whips; River Rock; Bindwire

This is the Christmas Centerpiece design I created for my client’s Christmas party this past weekend. Due to Covid consideration… the caterer and the client decided food be served family style on the 72” round tables. This meant that the centerpiece need to have as small a footprint as possible. The 12” tall Glass Cylinder with river rock and water provided plenty of anchor to support a slim, Euro style fresh Christmas tree created with combination of holiday greens, berries and cones.

The core mechanics for this design is a 18-20”tall chickenwire roll… the full 12” width of the chickenwire wrapped around Douglas Fir cuttings to provide gridwork to help hold insertions. The rolls were secured with 5 bongo ties… these rolls can be reused over again. This simple way of assembling also allows for quick dismantle and refresh and reuse of the whole piece of chickenwire.

This roll is outlined with 2 tall lengths of heavy willow sticks to make it a sturdy, rigid vertical structure. This roll is wedged into the neck of the cylinder with additional chickenwire roll wrapped around its girth, and cut willow sticks criss-crossing the roll to create extra gridding within. Its important that the glass cylinder used in this design system is thick and heavy, high quality for durable reuse… avoid low quality, low end thin glass cylinder. Various lengths of cut willow sticks are pierced through the roll from bottom upwards to add extra gridwork to create the slim silhouette for the tree.

Into this core mechanics, cut pieces of Douglas fir are layered from long pieces to shorter upward to fill the Euro style silhouette. Other complementing greens are cut and inserted additionally to fill the silhouette texturally. The tree is decorated with all natural botanicals…. Rosehips, Cotoneaster berry clusters on bamboo skewers, Brunia, Leucodendron and pine cones… finished with few cut Ranunculus blooms and buds to dress up the tree for the party. The longevity of the Euro Christmas trees can be prolonged by keeping them cool and watered down – keep them chilled outside or in the cooler when not in use.

To dismantle this design when it expires, just pull out all the compostable stems, leaving the chickenwire roll design system to be reused again immediately as is, or remade into the next shape. The ease of dismantle to compost, is an important factor in considering the efficiency of this design system.

BOTANICAL LIST: Peony (Paeonia lactiflora); Amaryllis ‘Mont Blanc’ (Hippeastrum var.); Parrot Tulips ‘Super Parrot’; Brunia albiflora; Clematis vine with floss (Clematis vitalba); Carolina Sapphire (Cupressus arizonica var. glabra); Leucodendron ‘Australian Pine’; Banyan roots (Ficus benghalenses)

SUPPLY LIST: Extraordinary Art Vessel for CSF share; Florist wire; Floral tape; Bullion wire; Chickenwire (coated); Bindwire

This special ceramic container was designed to my specification for a hands-on workshop I was teaching some time ago. It is a very solid, beautifully crafted ART vessel with multiple openings which provide opportunity to design in many ways, especially when complemented with chickenwire roll design system. The roll is half wide, one layer roll so it is very easy to shape into curves. It is filled with Douglas Fir cutting on the inside, which make the wire disappear quickly, and allows for textural insertion on its surface. The curving these rolls are easy by crimping, to repeat the curvilinear shape of the vessel. The wired and unwired Banyan root garlands provide additional earthy textural and sculptural effect to this design.

This chickenwire roll is perfect for designing materials which does not require water source… light branches, dried vines and floss Clematis vitalba, Brunia, Leucodendron cones, lichen, and mosses.

Botanical Art expression require minimal quantity of flowers. This becomes an opportunity for the ART side of Flowers to be experienced and appreciated by your client.

Art Share through flowers…. An opportunity to create a CSF (Community supported Floristry) subscription business model, providing exciting rotation of containers and design systems, offering a diverse and exciting design experience for the ART and Eco-conscious subscribers.