Scroll through Victoria-based gardener Tara Hurst's Instagram feed and you'll be inundated with dreamy images of flowers spilling out of milk jugs and farmers' market tote bags. This backyard farmer creates beautiful arrangements using blooms from her own garden, and here she provides us with tips and tricks to make four show-stopping, easy-to-replicate arrangements.
Cut blooms in the morning (when it’s cold) and immediatley place them in water.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Find a vase that showcases your chosen stems. Play around with different shapes and sizes. Tip: Criss-cross cellophane tape over the mouth of your vase to create a supportive framework for stems so they don’t droop over.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Stick to a palatte of similar colours for a cohesive look. Tara’s front yard is filled with peonies, roses, lilacs, climbing hydrangeas, clematis and wisteria in shades of white, pink and purple.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Measure the length of your blooms with the outside of the vase and cut on a 45-degree angle so flowers can easily absorb water.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Mix large, showy blooms cut at different heights with small, delicate flowers. Foliage should soften the arrangement and be draped around the bottom of the vase or float above. Asymmetry is key to achieving a wild, loose-looking arrangement. Stand back and look at you arragement from all angles, playing around with it until you get something you like. Tip: change the water everyday to preserve freshness and keep flowers out of sunlight for longer-lasting blooms.
Photo, Kelly Brown.This asymmetrical arrangement has a bit of everything – peonies, mythos roses, double tulips, rosemary, flowering skimmia and Estelle solidago.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Rosemary, sage and fennel join pink-speckled hellebores in this light and ethereal herb bouquet.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Romantic and robust white and pink peonies are set against full Romantic Antike Freelander roses in this lush arrangement.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Chartreuse viburnum is paired with roses, parrot tulips and white ranunculus.
Photo, Kelly Brown.Related:
10 of the prettiest peony varieties to plant in your garden
10 perennials to plant for an infinitely beautiful garden
How to diagnose—and heal!—sad, sick plants
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