Stories Told with Flowers

Stories Told with Flowers

Castiglion Fiorentino

Every girl loves a good flower arrangement, whatever it may look like, sophisticated and elegant, natural or whimsical, all red roses or an arrangement that looks like it was just picked up from around a random field. Whether referred to as an arrangement or not, the aesthetic feel of flowers being put together is welcomed by almost all. Last week we had the privilege of “Max”, the florist in Castiglion Fiorentino, to come demonstrate a few pieces of flower arrangements. 

              Max started off with explaining how he treats the flowers, the care and delicacy he takes with them. It was so interesting to see how much he loves his plants and how he believes they should be treated. Max would grab the flower at what he thought was the strongest point in the flower itself as to proceed with caution whatever he was going to do next. As he placed his first item into his hand to start his arrangement, he started with the dried sticks as a base. This actually ended up being my favorite arrangement of his due to the simplicity and natural feel of it all. The twigs he said he found in a dried up bush, again, raw and beautiful. As he started placing large, elegant, very much alive flowers with his fist full of flowers, it all started to come together. An interesting mix of very much dead sticks to very full of life and color petals. The delicacy Max treated his flowers was inspiring to me to take care of plants that well. Not having a horticulture background at all prior to this trip, seeing the tenderness and knowledge people have for this subject is something I very much admire and has inspired me in my own personal life. Max taught us how to cut the steams in a way that would allow maximum water to penetrate the steam as to keep the plant alive longer. He used a technique that he cut the steam slanted which allowed more of a surface area for the plant to soak up water into its stem.

              Once again my knowledge expands about the horticulture field and my appreciation for florists, gardeners, farmers etc. grows. I thoroughly enjoyed this hands on class, learning how to treat and take care of flowers. Another beautiful lesson, literally, learning about what our Earth blooms.

-HMS