The Curriculum

• 1. Hand Tied Bouquets

  The spiralling of stems into a hand tied bouquet is one of the most important floral skills to master. Even if you don't want to make professional bouquets, this is a perfect skill for making posies and vase arrangements in your home. You will learn different looks for hand tied bouquets all using the same skill but creating very different effects. The Loose Mixed Bouquet. This is the most common bouquet and can be adapted to lots of different seasonal flowers. This combination is a classic Paula Pryke colourful design where Paula talks about how to choose a collection of flowers to go together well. The Rose Dome is often used for Bridal bouquets or other hand held bouquets but it also works well as a table centre. Grouping flowers creates a very textural and colourful look and makes your hand tied bouquet look more contemporary. This dark and bright colour combination shows you how to use colours in a more daring way. A spray of flowers is also hand tied but this has a flat back. It can be used in many different ways but is most often used as a chair back for weddings or as a sympathy gift for a funeral or a Christmas swag decoration for a door.

• 2. Arrangements

  Arrangements are made in a container and use a number of different mechanics to keep the flowers in place. In this lesson we explore all the different types of mechanics you may use for small table centres and low arrangements and how to use them. We will cover floral foam, clear or decorative tape, chicken wire and coloured aluminium wire.

• 3. Adapting Containers

  One of the trademarks of Paula's designs is to adapt the container so that it is part of the design and makes the overall effect more sculptural. Paula generally uses natural products such as foliage, fruits, vegetables and aggregates for this.

• 4. Holistic Design

  Studying nature is the best way to become a talented and sensitive designer. Nature is the best teacher of all. In this lesson we will explore a number of examples: A ring table centre using flowers as they are seen in the wild to create a very natural effect. An over arm bouquet using flowers with a trailing habit to make a Presentation Over Arm or Ballerina Bouquet. Using twigs as support - how to use contorted willow in the water to help you to create a good shape with the flowers.