Equipment: A posy pad oasis on a wide plate

Flowers and Foliage: fatsia leaves, tree ivy leaves, talled stemmed flowers with interesting shapes: peruvian lilies, chrysanthemums, carnations, crocosmia, 4 x faux gerberas.

Step 1: Wet the oasis.

Step 2: Foliage: cover the outside section of the posy ring with foliage. Try to keep it as flat as possible. I used fatsia leaves as the main coverage, and the ivy to fill in the gaps. Make sure to leave a central circle in the middle of the posy for the flowers.

Step 3: Flowers: add the flowers one by one to create a tall ‘candle’ effect central section. It is important to have the long stems diving the space between the foliage and the flower heads. Place them randomly to mix up the colours. The overall effect is one of exuberance.

It makes me think of a bright “fiesta” dress with its wide green skirts at the base.

I chose very bright colours by using the crocosmia as a starting point and then selecting the peruvian lilies for their reds and oranges. Others people used white and green. Some used a selection of wild flowers. Fabienne used lovely purple smoke bush foliage. They all looked great.