Early spring renders some of the most whimsical natural beauty of the year. Apple, pear and cherry blossoms are beckoning the bees to come out for a drink and in turn we all benefit. These trees are blooming flowers before they are producing green leaves. The best part is that often when we gather clippings from these arbors, we are pruning and further supporting them to thrive. Of course pruning should only occur under the upmost consideration and care for the plant and with necessary permission. You will never regret bringing these little branches of wonder into your home, just do it respectfully.

Cherry blossoms have a very short blooming window and are only enjoyed in certain locations around the world. By no small amount of grace, did they happen to bloom in abundance during the very final week of March for G + Z’s early spring wedding. While there are many trees blooming around Philly neighborhoods, I specifically sought those in unusual public spaces. A few sights I found were essentially trash dumps (places where people go to intentionally discard their trash). I foraged probably over 100 branches from these blooming beauties. Maybe if the trees continue to spout their beauty, it will deter litter heaps.

Below I am sharing the recipe and mechanics for creating staircase florals using cherry and pear blossoms, anemones, green mist lace, moss, delphinium and roses. The recipe I am providing is just one part of what makes up 8-10 sections so keep this in mind when collecting flowers for such a design.

Ingredients:

moss
3-5 blooming branches
3 delphinium
3 roses
3 anemones
3 ranunculus
3 stock
3 genestra flowers
3 green mist lace

Instructions:

Cut a 8x4” inch section of chicken wire and wrap it up into a double layer cushion and place it in a 4.5 x 4.5” square vase.
Then cover the outside of the vase with chicken wire.
Take moss and place it in the space between the vase and the chicken wire.
Fill the vase full of water
Use your blooming branch to establish the shape and sculptural element of your arrangement at three different points (almost as if your arrangement is making a triangle) with your tallest piece in the back left of your arrangement reaching vertically, the next largest piece extending horizontally to the right and the smallest arm extending to the left horizontally.
*Note. The highest point of your arrangement should be over 12'" tall.
Place the delphinium along the lines where your branches are.
Snip S, M, L stems of your roses and use your imagination to create a “v,” line in your arrangement. Place one Rose at the bottom point, sticking out toward the side, another rose a bit higher than the point on the top of the “v” and another a bit lower than the top of the “v”
Take the anemones, and follow the same pattern.
Place the ranunculus around these roses to accentuate the roses and anemones.
Use the stock and genestra to cover stem lines that might be showing and fill in any gaps within the arrangement.
Add the green lace mist to add some whimsical elements to the arrangement.
*** Repeat 6-9 times to create a cascading staircase arrangement. For the bottom pieces, make them longer and more dramatic.