The Green Room Flower Company - Your Floral Guide To Tulips
Know for their trendsetting creations, romantic central Otago weddings and love for colour, The Green Room Flower Company share their secrets on how to arrange the perfect tulips and fills us in on what's trending! Stay tuned this week for an EPIC giveaway on our social media with Rachel!
Kia Ora Rachel! How are you feeling after Mother’s Day?
Wow-what a week that was. Thanks to my Dream team it was one of the busiest yet most organised (and stress-free!) Mother's day to date. We had a few very late nights with plenty of pretty flowers and wine on hand! We had a really wonderful week making lots of Mums happy, we had most of our burly partners out delivering flowers Saturday and Sunday so it was a great "all hands on board" experience this year!
It’s tulip season at the moment and we know you love to use them – what’s your advice for novice flower lovers attempting to style tulips in their home?
Invest in some great vases; a variety of colours and styles will always keep things interesting! Ask your local florist what their latest and freshest blooms are and ask them for guidance when purchasing flowers
How do you make your tulips look fab in a vase? Are there special flower pairings or style devices that you use to make them stand out?
We often use a metal spike or 'flower frog" to style tulips into lower vases, Tulips are one of the only flowers that continue to grow in water and extend their necks longer as each day goes by so styling with them is always fun as they change their shape and length changes every day. Tulips are so lovely on their own en masse but we also love to bundle them in bunches within our mixed bouquets and arrangements too - the colours are so delightful!
What inspires you to create new floral designs?
All of my fellow floral designers, I'm regularly on Instagram and Pinterest getting ideas and saving things to folders, or pinning to boards to remind me of the quirky ideas I find. My team and I are constantly discussing what works and what doesn't week to week depending on flower seasons - we are always trying new things and discovering the best techniques for each product or flower we create.
Wanaka is so rich in beauty and colour each season, does this influence your seasonal style?
Absolutely - it's hard not to feel fulfilled looking around and moving through Central Otago during the ever-changing seasons, I particularly love the calm coolness of autumn, the autumnal tones are a definite favourite over the last few seasons with brides so it's lovely to be able to use these tones in our arrangements. Winter backdrops & bluebird days are also a favourite of mine. Spring is lovely and bulbs pop up everywhere around older Wanaka township areas, it;s lovely to frolic amongst (especially as a florist - every little detail is noticed) Central Summer is our nemesis when setting up weddings! We have to set up last minute so everything is as fresh as possible and make sure all our flowers have PLENTY of water
Is there a never-fail trick and tip that you use to keep your tulips lasting longer that you’d recommend?
Use a very tall vase with fresh water - change it every day! Cut your tulips stems 1cm when you get them home and place them in a tall skinny neck vase to support the heads upright and once hydrated move them into a shorter vase and remember to change the water each day. We often have a radiator on at work and if we place tulips near it they gradually unfurl their beautiful petals and reveal striking colours at their centre. parrot tulips and red types are particularly lovely inside! Keep tulips away from windows and hot heat from fires or heat pumps and they will last and last.
Are there any new flower trends you’ve noticed that you love?
Reflexing tulips are definitely on trend right now! We love it and people don't even recognise they are tulips because they have been turned into something extraordinary with their "flipped" petals!
En-masse simplicity is always on-trend, white neutral tones are becoming more popular with the bleached types of flowers and preserved products becoming more available.
