Botanica Verde

Building structures to support botanical materials, dried grasses and foliage and interesting flowers can be so therapeutic and visually dramatic. Join Erik as he shares the techniques used to create this stunning transparent design.

Materials used: Oasis floral mesh, Midollino, 12 gauge aluminum wire, and bullion wire, yarn, glass water tubes, dried grasses, Design Master Olive Bright and Herbal spray paints, dried anthurium leaves, shish kabob skewers, corsage tape, sansevieria laurentii, white miniature calla lilies, lime green miniature cymbidium, lily grass and faux donkey tail succulents.

Step 1: Create long tube out of Oasis floral mesh. Set aside. Create Midollino wire vines using Oasis aluminum wire, Uglu dash and yarn. Wind yarn around the wire to complete conceal and secure on the other end using Uglu and bullion. Make 2 wire vines and wind them through and around the mesh tube.

Step 2: Set armature on top of your ceramic container filled with floral nutrient water.

Step 3: Make long grass whips using preserved dried grass, and bullion. Wind the bullion from the base of a section of grass blades up to the tip and then back to the base. Make several of them.

Step 4: Attach tinted dried anthurium leaves to shish kabob skewers using bullion wire and then corsage tape over the bindings.

Step 5: Set anthurium leaves into armature at front top and back of the armature. Weave long grass whips and glass water tubes into floral mesh and secure as needed with bullion wire. Insert sansevieria laurentii into the center of the design allowing them to create the vertical movement countering the horizontal armature. Tuck in faux donkey tail succulent allowing it to cascade forward in the design.

Step 6: Add water into glass tubes and insert white miniature calla lilies, to left and right horizontally and the lime green miniature cymbidium vertically through the center. Finish by adding lily grass enhancing design’s visual rhythm.