How to make an impact by saying it with flowers

Good Morning's floral expert Astar demonstrates her rose and cabbage arrangement. Pictures / Carolyn Robertson

Flowers should be treated like babies - be firm but never rough. And for goodness sake never dangle their tiny feet in dirty water." Sage advice from Astar, the Good Morning show's floral expert and former floral arranger for the Sultan of Brunei. So next time you roughly bundle a bouquet into the back seat, remember these are delicate petals in need of loving attention.

Say it with flowers and you'll always tug the heart strings. Remember little orphan Mary coaxing the first spring bloom in The Secret Garden? Love was never better expressed than in Robbie Burns' A Red, Red Rose, and that little minx Mena Suvari seduced a husband and millions of fans when she frolicked on a bed of roses in American Beauty.

Flowers are laden with memories, if not the scent of old. They're the colourful backdrop to festivals and ceremonies, and a decorative buffer on teary occasions. Like a virtual floral time clock, they conjure up vivid memories.

Still, some floral experiences are best left in the fantasy realm - like running naked through a field of sunflowers. Apparently it's like exfoliating your body with sandpaper.

Flowers are often our most reliable source for predicting the seasons, and two varieties are stand-out calendar events for Astar.

"When I see daffodils in spring, it makes my heart sing - they say 'good days are coming'. And in summer those beautiful old-fashioned roses emanate such warmth you just want to climb inside them."

Renowned for inventive floral arrangements created on a shoestring, Astar is full of fresh ideas to liven up the home. Her latest creation, taking pride of place in her Remuera home, combines artificial tropical flowers and fresh green foliage.

Although the tropical flowers cost slightly more than the fresh variety, they're an excellent one-off investment as they can be reused.

With her luminous skin, bright red hair and bright green eyes, Astar could be a tropical flower hybrid. She lovingly fondles a towering arrangement that wouldn't look out of place in a Federico Fellini film. One has to admire the handiwork; it's dripping in ivy, tassels, and, strangely, a toy kiwi is among the foliage.

"It's really important we retain crafts like floral arranging before they are lost forever."

If you are keen to learn the craft, steer clear of Ikebana and its many rules - and aim for simple statements that draw attention. Astar says the biggest blunder you can make is to fight nature.

"If you're stuck for ideas, look at the plant's natural environment and use it as a guide for colour and texture. Look at combining the rough with the smooth, curly with straight, dark with light."

To achieve balance, the rule is to make the arrangement one and half times the length or width of the middle of the container. For floral arrangements with impact, Astar says the rule of three's a crowd doesn't apply.

"One [container] on its own is lonely, two's interesting and three is visually exciting."

For dinner parties, you don't have to resort to the excesses of hostesses like American socialite Alva Vanderbilt, who sent cascades of fresh roses and jasmine falling from the chandeliers on to guests' laps. Astar says her cabbage arrangement  is a simple trick that never fails to get guests talking.

In her book Living Colour, internationally renowned florist Paula Pryke says colour is the most important element in any flower arrangement because it sets the mood of the display. She also advises novices to be aware of balance and style - and arm themselves with the tools of the trade.

But if you get tangled in a mire of floral tape and wire, leave it to experts like Iain Stephens, a judge at this year's Ellerslie Flower Show.

Stephens is one of 120 floral artists - and the only New Zealander - to be selected for the first book launch of International Annual of Floral Art. The Auckland florist has just returned from Europe, where the hot new look on florists' shelves is minimal and dahlias are making a comeback. The new colour trends are white/pink and pink/chocolate.

Stephens also spent time at Beaulieu Sur Mer, South of France, working for an exclusive florist providing flowers for the summer villas of the famous and fabulously wealthy including Sir Elton John, U2's Bono, and Tina Turner.

"We worked with unlimited budgets. They thought nothing of spending $15,000 just to say thank you."

Entertainment's elite don't like their blooms to fade, and in 40C heat that's a challenge. Flowers were flown from Holland and were changed every couple of days. You can tell a lot about an A-list star from their choice of floral arrangements.

U2's beachside villa was filled with an exotic display of bamboo and orchids and Tina Turner liked Zen-inspired designs. Just as you'd expect from the world's most famous queen, Elton John went for an all-white colour theme and flowers that were never permitted to fully open.

But Stephens' most colourful assignment was doing the flowers for the Russian Mafia's Babylonian-like villa; guns and roses were the order of the day.

"We had to carry these huge urns down the driveway in 40C heat. Bodyguards with guns would be following our every move."

When Diane Lane said farewell to her no-good, rotten husband in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, she departed their sumptuous home with only a flower vase in hand. Next stop was Italy and it didn't take long before the vase - and her love life were blooming. 

Astar's flower tips

* Recycled old cans and jars make brilliant containers; camouflage them with fabric, leaves and even fabric.

* To keep flowers fresh, trim at least 2.5 cm off the stem at a angle, so they don't sit flush in the container.

* Thoroughly clean your container, and use a dash of bleach to eliminate harmful bacteria.

* Fill your container with tepid water and flower food.

* As a substitute for florist's flower food, use a dash of janola and reserve the aspirin for your headache.

* Flowers detest heat; the warmer the room the faster they fade.

* Change the water every second day and mist flowers and foliage.

* If using floral foam, float it in a solution of water and flower food until it sinks and air bubbles stop rising to surface; don't over-soak.

* Floral arranging is like baking a cake; start with all your ingredients close at hand.

* Pick flowers from your garden in the morning or at night.

* Don't ever put flowers in the fridge.

* Commercial flowers can be loaded with sprays; so when you're working with them always wear gloves and don't eat or drink around them.