My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Rosa - Rose

Rosa

My all in the same boat floral art arrangement with roses in an Agave sisalana (sisal) leaf.

Common name

Rose

Origin

India, China, Europe, North America and Africa

Varieties

A new variety of rose appear daily and it would be rather silly to think you will be able to keep up with the names of all the roses available as cut flowers. Some of the new varieties are thorn-less and special attention is given to breed roses with a distinctive and traditional fragrance after years of fragrance free cut flowers.

Colors

Many variations of colour and bi-colours of almost all shades.

Vase life

Seven to ten days or even longer. A bit longer if it was grown for the cut flower industry and a little less if it is a garden rose.

Scent

Widely grown for its distinctive fragrance. Though cut roses have no scent new varieties are now available with a strong fragrance.

Uses

Very versatile. Roses can be used in formal designs and is equally appropriate in a country bouquet. Great to practice spiralling a bunch of flower stems because the stems are straight.

Conditioning

I prefer not to rip or strip my roses because it damages the stem bark. I just cut the thorn tips away with my knife. Gently peel the foliage from the stems that will fall below the conditioning water line. Cut the stem at an angle and condition in water with dissolved rose flower food. Roses should be designed and conditioned in deep water. Do not spray or submerge the flower head in water as this traps the water between the petals and causes Botrytis and bacteria to spread.

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 January 2023 Snowy twig band armature for a ever changing winter display

A well made snow covered twig band armature will last all winter so that you can display even the most delicate winter treasures.

18 January 2023 Getting the Band Back Together Again

Glue a band of snow dusted twigs to create a delicate armature for winter treasures.

2 November 2022 A Reflex Rose Rose Hip… Rose

Making a rose even more roselike by enhancing its rosy-ness.

2 November 2022 bonfire

A final rosy burst of fiery autumn colour.

27 October 2021 Hovering golden wheat Ghost Ship armature

Using dry and fresh floral material in one design without the dry becoming soggy and the fresh drying out.

27 October 2021 Ship Shape

The dry wheat stems are suspended from the outside of the container so that they remain dry and the flower stems can gently rest inside to remain hydrated.

4 August 2021 Scattered dried grass with raindrop crystals

Craft a light and airy grass halo to suspend tiny drop crystals around gorgeous roses.

4 August 2021 Counting Raindrops

Grass crisscross that makes you want to lean in closer to count the late summer raindrops around these gorgeous roses.

26 May 2021 Stacking stems to show off flowers from all angles

Roses so pretty you want to admire them front, side and back.

26 May 2021 From all sides

An all on one side design to admire roses from all sides.

13 February 2019 Willow and Rose heart armature

Weave willow stems into a heart shaped armature.

13 February 2019 Pick Love

Craft a willow heart to display 12 red roses to celebrate Valentine's Day.

21 June 2017 Playing Favourites

A quick and easy Kenzan design

8 March 2017 Piece of the forest

Standing roses upright in a shallow container

28 December 2016 A Jingle Cotton Christmas

Cover a wreath frame with bark and cotton for a textured Christmas wreath design

21 December 2016 Add a Cotton pod Cuff to the Bark Christmas Stocking Armature

A fluffy cuff lines the top edge of the bark Christmas Stocking

21 December 2016 A Gleaming Cotton Christmas

Glue bark to a wire frame to create a Christmas stocking armature

14 December 2016 A Candy(cane) Cotton Christmas

A floral cotton candy cane

19 October 2016 There are Octobers

Autumn wreath

18 May 2016 Because I think I am making Progress

Create a floral ceiling

4 May 2016 Ring-a-round

Open a vine wreath to create a spiral twig armature around a glass container

17 February 2016 Where would you put it!?!

Tie a twig armature enclosure for fresh flowers

20 January 2016 A lots of stuff and things

Sticks and twigs create a resting spot for palm and rose butterflies

18 November 2015 Autumn leaf and decorative tissue paper gift bag

A gift bag that dries beautifully

18 November 2015 Autumn is a mosaic of them all

Easy to assemble fall leaf and tissue paper gift bag

28 October 2015 On Pumpkin Coloured Days

Create a besom broom to sweep up those Autumn leaves

4 March 2015 Oh!

Wrap and weave grass to create a rose sphere

14 May 2014 Say "I Do" to design decisions

This is my article that I wrote for the Bridal Design Issue of Canadian Florist Magazine

30 October 2013 As the leaves melt away

Spike a few hundred fall leaves to create a cauldron for Halloween flowers

10 January 2013 A quirky kind of Love

Retail florists and wholesalers are already designing, ordering and preparing their product range for Valentine's Day. This is my article that I wrote for the December 2012...

18 September 2012 Tying the knot and loosening those curls

Romantic rose centerpiece with just a bit of an edge featured in the DIY Wedding Magazine

30 May 2012 The Beauty in the Sleeping Woods

As a floral artist I am inspired by the endurance of nature and my work is still re-creating the Sleeping Beauty Castle of my imagination.

15 March 2012 A Floral Fable Design demonstration at the Capilano Flower Arranging club

My demonstration explored ways to tell a story with floral art designs

25 April 2012 A plait, a braid or a French knot grass collar

"Plaid" and "braid" are synonyms, and where you are from will most likely dictate whether you use plait (British) or braid (American or Celtic). Some people also refer to...

24 April 2012 Words Matter.

Braiding and plaiting and knotting hair is a huge trend in hairdressing at the moment. Intricate little plaits are draped over long flowing hair to add complexity and quirk. ...

29 March 2012 A Floral Fable: Floriograpy Design

This is the fourth and last design I did for my Floral Fable demonstration.

15 March 2012 A Floral Fable Design demonstration Floral Art Structures

I did a Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club. Over the next few weeks I will show the designs in detail and add the design tutorials. This week I’ll...

1 January 2012 All in the same boat

8 March 2007 In the Summer Time Floral Art Demonstration

This was my first Floral Art Demonstration as a member of the South African Flower Union and the World Association of Flower Arrangers

10 April 2011 Feeling Funky

I wove vine wreaths to form a pyramid, one just slightly larger than the next. In the natural cavities between the wreaths I placed the roses and lisianthus in plastic covered...

11 April 2011 Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.

Bright and sunny cymbidium orchids and roses, lilies, lisianthus and pincushions

2 June 2011 Cymbidium Friendship Arrangement in a Papier Mache Container

The Asian Cymbidium is considered a gift of respect and friendship. The florets are also considered symbols of "virtue" and "morality" in many other cultures.

29 March 2011 "Canada" Demonstration in Cape Town, South Africa

After our second Canada visit in 2009 I did a demonstration entitled "Canada" at the Durbanville Flower Club in South Africa

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

5 April 2011 Floral Carpet

Durbanville Flower Club: Nature's Treasures, A Floral Art Exhibition at D'Ville Shopping Center Durbanville, Western Cape, South Africa

11 April 2011 Kitchen Garden

Kitchen Garden Design. South African Horticultural Society Show 2009

12 April 2011 Oh, What Twisted Tales We Weave

"What Twisted Tales We Weave" design 2010 Floral Trends Design Group, South Africa.

17 February 2011 Hanging Garden

Hanging garden Design using Rainbow Oasis Powder

11 February 2011 A Work of Heart

Carving hearts out of Rainbow Oasis to create an under water design

3 February 2011 I've got my head in the clouds

Wax and Rainbow Oasis keep the flower heads in place.

29 January 2011 Ground Breaking

Water stream breaking through ground in an autumn forest.

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...