My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Lilium - Lily

Lilium

A Rock by any other name, lily design

Common name

Lily

Origin

Varieties

There are about 110 species but as cut flowers we usually find: Asiatic lilies which are star-shaped, longi-florum which are trumpet shaped and Oriental which are the tall very scented star shaped flowers or hybrids of them. Longi-florum is the most popular lily to use as cut flower. These tend to be forced for particular markets such as for Easter when it will be sold as Easter Lilies. Also known as Madonna Lilies.

Colors

Range through white, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Also bi-coloured, spotted and brush strokes.

Vase life

Ten to fifteen days.

Scent

Distinctively fragrant

Uses

I love the scent of a fully opened lily but in design work I love the graphic look of a tightly closed bud.

Conditioning

Strip all the foliage from the stem that will fall below the conditioning water line. Cut the stem at an angle and set the stems in warm water with dissolved lily flower food. To open the lilies faster place in a steamy room and re-cut the stems frequently. The moment the pollen anthers are visible, reach into the flower and gently pull anthers away to prevent stains.

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Related Designs

18 May 2022 How to skewer foliage tubes for a lily bud swirl support

Ombre designing with the smallest to the biggest lily buds in a shallow container.

18 May 2022 Because Why

Adding the smallest details to absolutely make the design.

5 January 2022 Double vase Snow Glow Winter Centerpiece

Add warmth to a space with a softly glowing winter white arrangement

5 January 2022 Slow Glow

A slow but glowing start to the New Year and the new design season

21 July 2021 Knot a delicate hammock from ripped foliage

Light and airy addition to a floral design to celebrate summer

21 July 2021 High-Strung

String up a tiny hammock for a dreamy summer vacation design

16 June 2021 Shelter grass veil for a round container

A single lily flower design dressed up with a grass veil.

16 June 2021 Dream Rescue

Weave the most delicate grass shelter veil for a gorgeous lily.

13 January 2021 Tri-petal (with vines to fill in the gaps) lily flower wand

Pick away petals from a lily to create space for delicate vines to really shine.

13 January 2021 It's in there

Complete the picture by drawing a lily flower with delicate vines.

9 September 2020 Daffodillily

Weave around the stamens of a lily to create a daffodil like inside.

9 September 2020 Weave a daffodil corona inspired sweater for a lily

Knit a corona (as in that inside skirt like part of a daffodil) by weaving a Ceropegia woodii vine around the stamen filament of a lily.

1 July 2020 Crafting a Hornet of Tranquility (you know… the one with the sparkle butt)

Let me explain myself: it’s got a blue sparkle stinger… or you wouldn’t have noticed the little wasp.

1 July 2020 Oh yes, The Hornet of Tranquility

A minimal... but then with a tiny bug detail... design that is perfect for warm summer designing.

10 June 2020 Overgrown vine tangle to suspend flowers in a clear vase

A zero waste and sustainable floral design solution to keep your flowers exactly where you want them without using floral foam.

10 June 2020 All Out

An all out effective way of keeping a flower stem in the exact spot you want it to be in a clear water vase design.

21 August 2019 Attaching a lily bud corsage using a BoutStix Floral Magnet

I love these little Boutstix corsage magnets! They are strong enough to hold flowers neatly in place.

21 August 2019 Tie a half bow with ripped grass

For a natural alternative to ribbon or string... add a ripped grass bow.

21 August 2019 Magnetic Floral Corsage inside a lily pod-bud

Conceal a BoutStix Floral Magnet in a lily bud to design a woodland foraged inspired corsage.

21 August 2019 All in one pod

Fold open a lily bud to conceal a clever little BoutStix floral magnet for an unusual corsage.

14 August 2019 Long lasting Lily and lily grass ball

Keep all the fresh flower material hydrated in water by weaving the stems from one side of the vase to the other.

14 August 2019 For a longer lasting Summer

A creative way to keep foliage hydrated for a cool, water filled summer design.

24 July 2019 Grass Twirling Up to Dress a Stem of Lilies

A single stem of lilies turned into a celebration just by twirling a handful of lily grass around it.

24 July 2019 Up to much?

Dress up a single lily stem with a few blades of grass.

19 June 2019 Magic Flying Floral Carpet Ride -Collaborative Workshop

Some picture highlights from our collaborative workshop that I taught focusing on braiding and weaving techniques to create a floral carpet design.

19 June 2019 Creating a secure grass snippet here and there grid

This grid helps secure flowers in place... and add visual interest by being over rather than under the flowers.

19 June 2019 No Foam pave design

Here it is: my take on the one design that people argue is "tricky" to design without floral foam. A low pave design. Not tricky at all! It's actually easier to do without...

19 June 2019 Club together

Last Wednesday I had such a flowery fun evening teaching a collaborative floral carpet workshop focusing on braiding and weaving ideas from my book the effortless floral craftsman...

12 June 2019 Loop-over grass veil for a cool summer design

A cool and minimal floral design for summer.

12 June 2019 Almost... all over!

Loop a grass veil over a lily stem to create a minimalist summer design.

5 June 2019 Stack a Stack of Stems to create a sturdy grid Armature... with some height

Stack green lily stems to create an upright mechanic to keep shorter stems in place.

5 June 2019 Add up!

Stacking green stems to create an armature for short stemmed flowers.

22 May 2019 Gently peel leaves from the stalk to create a twisted stem end

Roll leaves to create a stopper to keep flowers in place in a bud vase

22 May 2019 Putting your own spin on it

I would definitely describe my own personal style as minimalist classic... but with an edgy twist.

8 May 2019 Fill a trumpet shaped flower cup with... more flowers!

A hidden water source small enough to fit into a dainty flower.

8 May 2019 It takes more than one person to invent a trumpet!

Filling a trumpet flower cup... with more flowers!

27 February 2019 Weave a floral trap

Keep your flowers in place with an all natural woven trap.

27 February 2019 It’s a trap!

Weave a trap to keep your floral details suspended in a square container.

30 January 2019 A round, around a round foliage… spiral in a vase

Stack foliage to create a rose spiral in a container.

30 January 2019 Around Here

Wind lily leaves to spiral around in a water filled container.

19 September 2018 Before I show you my book- let me show you my book

… and why we call this the special craftsmanship edition

15 August 2018 Bursting with excitement

Loosely weave grass to create a decorative grid keeping flowers in place over a square container.

6 June 2018 Hi-Lo

Perfect stems, perfect flowers. Needs nothing more.

14 February 2018 Wire two Equisetum shoots into a heart

A wire in the hollow cavity inside a shoot of equisetum makes it easy to manipulate into a heart

14 February 2018 Two Are

Equisetum Valentine's hearts

7 February 2018 Bend Wired Equisetum into a Hollow Wreath

Craft a wreath with a hollow cavity inside to use as an armature for your flowers

7 February 2018 Up around the bend

Bend Equisetum into curves to wire into an open wreath shape

15 November 2017 Alchemy

Gently stand leaves upright in a Kenzan

13 September 2017 Around again

Tape a grid at the edge of a container

2 August 2017 Two vase, two level Phormium snippets

Design in two levels by using two vases, the smaller slipped into a bigger one.

2 August 2017 Grace

Use snips and snippets and leftovers to create a design of it's own

22 March 2017 Biomimicry

A design demonstration and workshop at the Floral Trends Design group in South Africa exploring how we emulate nature’s best biological ideas to solve our modern day design...

2 November 2016 Pick your poison

A Fun Halloween design with "poisonous mushrooms" tucked between the moss and petals

1 June 2016 Binding a lily bud

Binding the bud to let it open in an exaggerated trumpet shape

1 June 2016 The ties that Bind

Bind a lily to create a trumpet shape as it opens

10 June 2015 Gotcha!

Hana Kubari lily stems

18 February 2015 Snail Away

Spiral roll a snail to add to this sunny design

17 September 2014 Still

My bark bowl design and tutorial featured in the Centrepiece Wedding Magazine

2 July 2014 Clearly contained

Clear containers need clear grids to keep the flowers in place

16 April 2014 Never saw such a lovely day...

Weave a palm thorn garland to decorate for Easter

19 February 2014 Come on Over

Weave an open foliage flower frog

22 January 2014 How do you do?

Snow and twigs winter design

16 May 2013 Natural, naturally

Weave a armature to rest a lily on

13 March 2013 Grass shelter for a glass bubble vase

Weave a shelter around a glass vase

13 March 2013 Than you have to

Weave blades of grass to create a cover for a glass vase

27 February 2013 Just Meshing About

create a mesh to drape over the design to create a soft veil.

30 January 2013 It's High Time for Tea: from craft to art, taking a delicious floral journey with wire techniques

This was my last two designs for my It's High Time for Tea Floral Craft and Art Demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging Club meeting

16 October 2012 Bright, brighter… brightest!

Celebrate the bright colours of autumn with lilies and Chinese lanterns

8 August 2012 Stringing in the rain

A veil of green wool, Spanish moss and dried hydrangeas hang over white lilies

30 March 2012 Keep pod shaped flowers in bud for longer

Sometimes you want to keep flowers in tight bud for as long as possible to suit your design

21 July 2011 Tradition and Technique, Technique and Tradition

When you need inspiration for a design problem study a Traditional Craft- you will be amazed!

3 April 2011 One Singular Sensation

Three Lilies plaited to create a sensational, singular flower "growing" out of a Equisetum dome filled with Rainbow Oasis pebbles.

11 April 2011 Flower Festival: Methodist Church Hall, Durbanville, South Africa

Six wall designs staged for the Durbanville Flower Club Flower Festival.

2 April 2011 Easter Parade Demonstration and Accessory Workshop

Advanced level Workshop: For my Easter Parade Demonstration I made 6 hand-tied designs within armatures. The concept was to pick up the design while demonstrating and to literally...

4 April 2011 Floral Trends Design Group Opening Demonstration: 2010

A look at the Old and New of Floral art

4 April 2011 "A New Age" Child's Midnight Meander (Avatar)

A New Age Child's Midnight Meander

11 April 2011 Kitchen Garden

Kitchen Garden Design. South African Horticultural Society Show 2009

25 February 2011 A Rock by any other Name...

It's not really what we call things that matter but what they are made of- in this design, it's made of all three types of Oasis and wool.

2 January 2011 Lilies

How to keep Lilies in bud for longer. Removing the pollen. Stringing a Lily Garland.

19 February 2011 Crossing Boundaries

Twig waterfall creates the boundary between the "under" and the "over" of the design. Tutorial: How to cover test tubes with Rainbow Oasis

8 February 2011 Prickly Oasis

Create the two or more coloured details with Rainbow Oasis.

20 January 2011 The last Vine Wreath

Every designer knows how to stretch their supplies. We use and re-use our dried plant material until our fellow designers feel like hiding it from us. I formed such an...