Picture Perfect: Hyacinths in a Pussy Willow Frame

Show off heavy-headed hyacinth flowers while providing them sweet support. This hyacinth display looks lovely on a kitchen table or coffee table. It should last about three weeks if you mist the hyacinths every other day.

Excerpted from Fresh Flower Arranging
Filed under: Flowers, Frames, How To

Materials

Flowers and Foliage
7–11 hyacinth bulbs (still closed)
2 bunches of pussy willow stems
moss

Consider substituting 'Tête à Tête' narcissi, grape hyacinths or any other bulbs for hyacinth bulbs and dogwood stems for pussy willow stems.

Other Materials
cake pan (12 inches diameter) or any round container
cellophane, trash bag, foil (or any non-porous material)
good-quality, multi-purpose potting soil
shears
string or ribbon that matches the color of the cake pan or hyacinth bulbs

How to Arrange

1. Line the cake pan with a piece of cellophane, trash bag, foil or any other non-porous material to protect it.

2. Fill the pan almost to the top with potting soil.

3. Arrange the bulbs on the soil and fill the gaps around them with extra soil. Leave the tops of the bulbs uncovered, as this adds to the design.

4. Trim the ends (not the tips) of the pussy willow stems so that they are all roughly the same length (about 16 inches), and push the ends into the soil at regular intervals around the edge of the pan.

5. Guide each willow stem into the center with your hands and tie them together with a length of string or ribbon in a loose knot.

6. Arrange some moss around the edge of the pan and over the soil to hide it. Mist the hyacinth bulbs with water.