te leew 7 ae A Alive With Possibilities Flowers: An Easy, Inexpensive Way To Decorate (PSA)—Acolorful way to chase away bad weather blues is with the bright huesof cut flowers. Dainty spray roses and minicarnations make great tea cup arrangements for a lunch with friends. Country baskets of tulips, carnations and alstroemeria bring a burst of brilliance into the house. For a dramatic show, place a few stemsof flowering branches with spring flowers in a vase. Carefully consider the container. Watering cans, galvanized metal flower buckets, rustic bas- kets and terra cotta pots can make you feel like spring at any time. Make a grid across the mouth of the container with floral tape to hold the flowers in place. You can try this arrangement by floral designer Jill Slater. You will need: Wide mouthedcontainer, about 8 inches in diameter 18 stems white standard carnations 18 stems white iris 12 rubberbands floral clippers scissors floral food/preservative one-half inch wide floral tape Place four strips of tape, parallel to each other, across the top of the container. Run four more strips of tape, perpendicular to the first four. Fill the container with water treated with floral food/preservative. Cut all flower stems to about seven inches long. Removeall leaves from the stems. Use Be a blooming genius: Deco- rate your home with flowersall year long. three stems of the same kind of flower to make a small bouquet in your hand. Keep the flower headsat the same height. Place a rubber band around the stems, just below the blooms. Do this with all the flowers, creating six bunches of carnations and six bunchesofirises. Cut two bunchesof carnations to about 5.5 inches long. Place these bunchesin the center of the container. Cut the other four bunches of carnations to about 4.5 inches long. Insert them at the corners of the container. Fill in the remaining grid openings with the six bunchesofirises. Visit www.flowerpossibilities.com for more flower “recipes” and “ideas.” For a free brochure on decorating with flowers, write to the Flower Promotion Organization, P.O. Box 16, Ovid, MI 48866-0016.
