Top tips for creating the perfect summer flower bouquet

Christopher Pike / The National

Christopher Pike / The National

Christopher Pike / The National

Christopher Pike / The National

Step 1:

Lay out all of the flowers that will be included in your bouquet. For this arrangement, Jerome Yu, a senior florist at Forever Rose, opted for a summery bouquet consisting of Yellow Deja Vu and peach-coloured Sweet ­Expression roses, surrounded by white Astilbe, white Hypericum and Alstroemeria.

Step 2:

Cut all stems at a 45-degree angle. Use sharp scissors and cut quickly to avoid squashing the stem. Cutting at an angle will increase the surface area of the stem, allowing more water to travel up into the blooms. Otherwise, they will sit flush with the bottom of your vase, blocking the stem’s ability to draw up water. You should also cut your stems at slightly varying lengths, to give your finished bouquet a more naturally rounded shape.

Step 3:

Choose your receptacle. ­Forever Rose delivers its bouquets in specially created boxes that are coated with a waterproof film. This can then be removed, leaving you with a useful storage box and ­memento of your purchase. Whatever your receptacle, make sure it is cleaned properly between uses – any residual bacteria lurking in the bottom of your vase will immediately shorten the lifespan of your blooms.

Step 4

Use your greenery as a foundation – in this instance, Yu selected ­eucalyptus, which created a lush, verdant backdrop to the roses. Check all leaves for signs of discolouration and remove immediately. Again, you don’t want to introduce any bacteria from the outset. High-end florists will never include an even number of flowers in a bouquet, according to ­Forever Rose’s experts. Follow suit and stick to odd numbers if you can.

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Step 5

Add your roses, then organise your fillers around them. When it comes to placement, the idea is to keep things looking as natural as possible, as if you had wandered into your garden and picked a bunch of flowers. If you want to create mini-groupings with your flowers, stick to three blooms and no more. As a general rule, it always pays to keep things simple.