Floral Foam Alternative

As you may already know, if you’ve been following my journey in flowers, I am always looking for eco-friendly ways of arranging and creating. This dedication to being “eco chic” isn’t without its challenges though, a lot of times it means looking for out-of-the-box solutions for well established industry standards. For instance, a long time staple in the floral industry is that nasty green stuff called floral foam…

I call it nasty, because if you are a craft store junkie like me, inevitably you’ve run across floral foam before. Most of the time, the blocks are either already crumbling, leaving a fine green dust behind, or are laden with mystery fingerprints, like some sort of a floral crime scene.

At times it seems like there is literally nothing cute about traditional floral foam…

It makes a mess.

It is only good for one use (talk about throwing away money).

And it’s just a block of plastic with air bubbles, so it doesn’t break down in the dump after it’s been tossed.

Don’t get me wrong though, there are some pretty amazing benefits associated with floral foam as well, such as…

It provides a great, consistent water source, making it ideal for installations.

It is SUPER easy to arrange in… once you stick a stem in the foam, it isn’t going anywhere.

And it’s accessible - any floral wholesaler or craft store will have options available, so even if you’re in a pinch it’s an easy-to-access solution.

So when it comes to finding the right eco-friendly alternative for this long-standing industry staple, it’s not a small task…

What solution combines all of the great things about floral foam, while leaving out some of the nasty environmental impacts?

After researching and pulling together some tips and tricks I found, I decided to try my hand at what I lovingly call “moss logs” as a floral foam alternative. Just to be clear, I am not the first florist by any stretch of the imagination to use this technique, but I wanted to share my full process here so it’s all in one place. I had a hard time finding a comprehensive look at how to make a moss log, so I thought it would be worth sharing my journey here.

The first step in my moss log making process was identifying the correct type of moss and where to buy it. Luckily, I have a really knowledgeable contact at my local floral wholesaler, Colleen, who was able to help me to identify sphagnum moss as the best option for my end use. With this in mind, I went out and bought (what I thought was) sphagnum moss for my moss logs from my local home improvement store. As a word of caution, from my own personal blunder, sometimes sphagnum moss is intended to be used in conjunction with dirt to help with moisture retention. When this is the case, it will be too finely shredded for the moss log application…

Exhibit A (see image below) : the image on the left is finely shredded sphagnum moss to be used with soil, it’s basically dirt and isn’t suited for moss log creation; the image on the right is long, fibrous sphagnum moss and is ideal for moss logs.

A trip to my local nursery later, I finally had the correct kind of moss in hand and I was ready to get started.

On a side note, if you are looking for a steep discount on a gently used bag of finely shredded sphagnum moss, please send me a message ;-)

In order to create the moss logs, I used floral chicken wire and several pieces of 22 gauge florist wire. I placed the sphagnum moss on 1 layer of chicken wire, being sure to place enough that the log could hold its structure, but not too much as to make it difficult to insert the flower stems. Unfortunately, figuring out the right amount of moss to put inside of the chicken wire is not an exact science, but can be easily determined through some good old fashioned trial and error.

Once the moss was placed on the 1 layer of chicken wire, I used the 22 gauge wire to “sew” the 2 sides of the chicken wire together. I then tucked in the short ends of chicken wire on themselves to round out the end of the log and ensure that the moss was secure on all sides.

Once my moss logs were assembled, it was time to soak them with water. In order to ensure that my moss logs were evenly saturated with water, I decided to soak them in my bathtub. I filled my bathtub roughly half full with cool water and flower food. While my plumbing was not pleased, I was honestly impressed with how little debris came off of the logs once placed in water, as can be seen in the image below. Had the moss logs been smaller, I think that they could have been soaked in a bucket of water or sink, as opposed to a tub, but for my purposes I found the tub to be quite effective for ensuring even soaking.

After I was satisfied with the amount of saturation, I placed the logs in a plastic container to allow for any excess water to drain off prior to arranging.

The most exciting part about this step in the process is that you can really start to treat your moss logs the same way you would treat your floral foam. For instance, for the design pictured below, I ended up taping the moss log into a plastic tray and I was able to design into the log on that tray. The tray allowed for the easy transportation of my design and also caught any loose moss or displaced water, protecting the table the design was ultimately placed on.

(Look at how happy I am to be sporting such an eco friendly design!)

Since my other two moss logs were being used outside and I wasn’t concerned about catching any displaced water or moss, I was able to place these moss logs right on the ground. I placed one of the them at the base of my floating arch and the other on the opposite side of the floating arch. I was able to design into these moss logs on site and with most of the same ease as floral foam, though I did find better success using water picks for the weaker stemmed flowers (such as ranunculus and tulips).

Knowingly, I am still early on in my eco friendly floral journey, but I am excited about the results of my first “moss log” experiment. In addition to replicating the ease of floral foam without the environmental impact, I am currently drying out the moss to be used for future moss log endeavors, so my wallet is pretty happy too.

Eco friendly and eco chic, moss logs are a floral tool that this florist can get behind.

Grocery Store Glow Up

When I started working with flowers more regularly a few years ago, I would get my flowers from the same place most people do - the grocery store. Sometimes I would be frustrated by the pre-made bouquets and what felt like a lack of unique flowers and greenery…

How was I going to make something special and unique for my friend’s birthday or a work baby shower?

The more times I encountered this feeling of dread when trying to pump myself up about shopping for flowers at the grocery store, the more empowered I felt after the fact to find a way to build confidence with grocery store blooms. This new found empowerment gave way to my own research about things like, “the best grocery stores to buy flowers from” and “simple flower arranging techniques.” I was looking for accessible ways of arranging flowers from home that wouldn’t break the bank or require a trip back to college…

I was on the hunt for a true grocery store glow up.

With the end goal in mind, the first thing I needed to address was my supply chain (aka the grocery store I was shopping at). Over time, I have found that I have the most fun arranging and the most success when I go to grocery stores that sell flowers and foliage in separate bunches. Being able to buy separate bunches allows you to pick and choose unique color combos and a variety of textures. Some of my go-to grocery stores for this type of purchasing are Trader Joe’s and WholeFoods.

I realize that not everyone has stores like this in their area, but have no fear, pre-bundled bouquets from your local store are also a suitable substitute. To help glow those pre-packaged bouquets up a little bit, I would recommend some of the following solutions :

1. Try buying more than one bouquet, so you can mix and match components and ditch the flowers or greenery that bum you out.

2. Find a unique container that complements the flowers that are available. Who said that kitschy looking bowl from your Aunt Linda needed to be banished anyways?

3. Look into adding unsuspected elements to your design, such as some greenery you foraged from your backyard - OR - invest in some dried grasses from your local craft store that can be used sparingly and saved for future arrangements.

When you are willing to get creative and a little scrappy, there is no limit to how you can transform those grocery store blooms.

Once you feel like you’ve identified the best grocery store in your area for buying flowers, the first step in your grocery store glow up is to go on the hunt for some floral gems.

For this blog post, the store I decided to visit offers flowers and foliage in separate bunches, so I was able to select ingredients to do a predominantly yellow and purple color palette with some burnt orange mixed in. My haul featured sunflowers, two different colors of mums, eucalyptus, mini carnations, stock, and alstroemeria. The great thing about all of these materials is that they are economical and, when purchased fresh, have a long vase life.

With flowers in hand, there are just a few more supplies you will need from around your house. This list of supplies includes :

• A bowl or vase to arrange in (hello kitschy little mixing bowl!)

• Scissors for cutting stems

• Tape for creating a structure on the bowl

• Fresh, cool water (temperature-wise, but if it just happens that your water is really awesome as well, that is also acceptable) with flower food mixed in

Once you have all of your materials gathered, it’s time to get to work arranging!

The first step in the glow up process is creating a structure on top of your bowl. To create this structure, start by placing four rows of tape across the top of the bowl to create a “checkerboard” pattern. Once the four rows of tape are applied, wrap an additional piece of tape along the side of the bowl (aligned with the top edge) to secure down the individual ends of the “checkerboard” tape. This additional piece of tape along the side of the bowl will prevent your structure from collapsing as you work with your flowers.

Believe me… there is nothing more frustrating that your structure failing when you are in the middle of arranging.

Once your tape structure is in place, pour in your prepared water so the container is about 2/3 full, and start to “green” your arrangement. By “green” I mean that you should place almost all of your greenery first, and this is for a few different reasons :

1. The greenery will allow you to start to form / decide the shape you would like your arrangement to have (for me, I decided to make my arrangement low to the bowl and extending out horizontally).

2. Greenery tends to have firmer / thicker stems, so it allows you to create a supportive place to nestle in some of your flowers with smaller or weaker stems.

To green the arrangement, cut the stems of greenery (in my case, eucalyptus) to the desired length, and place the stems in the container at an angle, purposefully crossing the stems over each other (keep thinking about creating cozy pockets for your flowers with weaker stems as mentioned in point #2 above). As you place the stems in the water, make sure to remove any and all foliage that would fall below the water line. Foliage and petals below the water line will shorten the life of your cut flowers, so when in doubt, pull those leaves off.

(If you don’t have any greenery, you can skip straight to this next step.)

Once the greenery is in place, start to fill in with some of your “filler” flowers, which for me was some yellow alstroemeria. You can usually tell that something is a filler flower, because it tends to be smaller in scale and there will be multiple flowers per stem. As you place the filler flower, follow a similar technique as the greenery by purposefully crossing the stems over each other in the container, all while keeping in mind the overall shape you are hoping to achieve at the end.

With the initial filler flowers in place, next incorporate your “line” flower, for my arrangement that was some purple stock. Usually you can tell that something is a line flower, because in general it is very long and thin, like a line. This purple stock added some brightness to the arrangement and helped to further establish the overall shape I was looking for.

The great part about this point of this process is that between the greenery and filler flowers, the structure within the container is starting to become quite strong. So while it is ideal to cross over the stems as much as possible, it is no longer necessary. I was able to place the stems of my stock as I wanted them within the bowl.

After you feel good about the placement of your filler flowers, line flowers, and greenery, next you should move onto your “focal” flowers - for me this was my yellow mums, orange mums, and sunflowers. Focal flowers are usually your biggest flowers - they bring the "wow” factor. When placing your focal flowers, make sure that there are some in the front, sides, and back at varying levels. This variety of placements within the container and “levels” (lower and higher up in the container) create interest and allow the viewer to be “carried” visually through your design.

As a side note, I tend to place at least one bloom very low in the front of my arrangement to really bring attention to the true “front” of my arrangement. In this instance it was a single yellow mum, which can be seen in the finished product photo.

With the majority of your blooms placed and the real estate inside of your bowl quickly disappearing (or was it just me?), it’s time for the finishing stages! For me this included placing my last filler flower (mini carnations) and adding any additional foliage or filler flowers that I felt like my arrangement was missing.

To complete the arrangement and place your final blooms, look for any empty spaces that need covered or areas in the arrangement that need a pop of color. I always like to make sure that none of my mechanics are showing, which in this case is tape, and that none of my materials are “one hit wonders” - by that, I mean that they only pop up randomly in one place, never to be seen again…

(I’m looking at you Hanson brothers.)

Once all of the blooms are placed, stand back and take a look...

Does anything look out of place? For me, it was my initial placement of the sunflowers, so I pulled a few of them out, trimmed them and placed them back in better positions in the container.

Is there too much of any one flower or foliage in a particular spot within the container? In these cases, I either pulled out that stem or cut a leaf or bloom off of it to lessen the visual weight of that material.

If you can tell something is wrong with your arrangement, but you can’t quite pinpoint what, I would suggest taking a picture of your arrangement and reviewing it that way. I can’t tell you the number of times I have personally identified tweaks that my arrangement needed after snapping a picture. Sometimes things just look different through a camera lens.

My final piece of advice, when reimagining those grocery store blooms, is to have fun and don’t overthink it. All of these tips and tricks are great for a grocery store glow up, but just remember that flowers are meant to be fun and personal, so find a way to create that works for you, and I promise that it will show in your finished product.