Woodland Inspired Floral Disco Balls

These floral disco balls have been sitting in my drafts for a while. Time to release them into the wild!

If your style is natural, boho with a dash of glam then these woodland inspired floral disco balls could be for you. I was asked to put them together for a wonderful local wedding film business – Heartwood Wedding Films. They filmed the very first wedding I delivered this year and have been so generous with their support. They were for a wedding fair, in a new and really natural venue. My theme was “sunset” which I have to admit was much harder to collate than I expected in Mid May.

As a seasonal British flower grower, specific requests at short (ish) notice have to bend the boundaries. As I establish my floral business, brief’s like this give me wonderful opportunity to flex my creative muscle and test what the garden can produce. I often use these requests to develop the perennial plants I bring into the garden. They are an expensive investment but always worth it long term as it means I can cater to different styles in the long run.

Mid May is a fairly quiet time in the garden. The first flush of spring flowers have passed and there is a pause before the early June annuals begin to flower. It is the perennial plants that fill the gap.

For these arrangements I relied heavily on Guelder-Rose (Viburnum Opulus). I planted 12 bare root plants when I established the cutting garden four years ago, this year they have really found their groove. So many soft blush flower heads. They were mixed with Geum Lady Stratheden , another gem which I grew from seed. Geum’s have been fantastic this year and I have added quite a few more to the garden. They make great cut flowers and add a delicate edge to all my arrangements. I love how the petals look like crumpled tissue paper.

As I write, I realise that a seemly simple arrangement has many different elements to it. First we have the season itself, fresh and full of rich vibrancy.

I’m not sure if its the weather but there has been a more ‘woody’ feel to the garden this year. To tie back to the sunset theme, I tried to keep the colours as rich as I could but they did want to quite literally spring back to fresh greens and mauves.

Secondly the challenge was keeping this arrangement sustainable. The planters were large in size and I used three jam jars fixed with chicken wire and moss to keep everything in place. They also had to travel the day before and then to the venue. Again I had to make sure everything would survive, Spring plants can have a tendency to droop whilst they are still growing. Ferns have loved the wet spring and I liked how they added a wild touch to the arrangement.

Overall, I’m really pleased with how they turned out. They used a lot more flowers than I expected but also created a real statement. If I were to use these in a wedding or celebration setting. I’d use a few layered around a ceremony or cake table. Being robust, they can easily be moved around a venue. Giving them multiple uses, they would also be great with dried flowers too. If you love a disco ball, you might this blog post too – Creative Living : Two napkin Folding Ideas