Simple Tropical Flower Arrangement

Last night I found myself with the inexplicable urge to create a flower arrangement using flowers and leaves in my garden... so I got up from the dinner table while everyone was eating and took some scissors outside.

This exotic arrangement took maybe two minutes at the most, was very easy, and will be fairly long lasting too.


Here's What I used:

1 White hidden ginger flower
3 Orange heliconia flowers
1 Alocasia leaf
2 Ti plant or cordyline leaves

Of course you can use what you have growing in your own garden too, but these are great for their durability and shelf life.  You can also substitute the alocasia leaf with one of a split leaf philodendron, white bird of paradise or a palm frond.  The waxier and glossier the leaves the better, as they retain moisture longer!

The Alocasia "California" leaf was placed in the rear to form a striking backdrop, while the cordyline "Willi's Gold" leaves  were simply stuffed in the vase to hold everything in tightly and serve as a foil.

For flowers I used heliconia "costa flores" and curcuma ginger, since the bracts last a long time even after the flowers have faded. The heliconia stems were cut at different heights to create a tiered and layered look.  To get the ginger flower, I had to cut the whole cane down, peeling the leaves from around the flower stem.  It was actually quite fun!  Here are some photos, and I apologize for the grainy cell phone quality.

If you were to get an arrangement like this at the florist it would cost you an arm and a leg, but hopefully either you or a friendly neighbor has the ingredients in the backyard!  Don't let your valuable resources go to waste, and be sure to post pictures on The Rainforest Garden Facebook Group to show me some of your own creations.

For some other creative ideas, check out some of my other posts.

Floating Flowers
A Thai Style Dinner
Floating Gardenia Blossoms
Tropical Terrariums