Have you ever wondered how to arrange a bunch of flowers effectively in a vase, with no mechanics? This design is exactly that, with the flowers just arranged in water. There are a few things to take into consideration. Firstly, choose a container which tones with the colours of your flowers. Secondly, choose a container of the right height for your flowers, i.e. if you have fairly short stems, don't choose a tall container, and if you choose a short container, then cut your stems accordingly. The principle of two-thirds flowers to one-third container still applies here. Finally, choose a container with a wide enough neck to suit the number of stems you have. If you only have a few stems, then you're never going to be able to arrange your flowers properly - they are always going to splay out. For a few stems, choose a narrow-necked container. When arranging flowers just in water, begin with a few stems of foliage first, arranging them symmetrically around the vase. Add some stronger stems of flowers or foliage in the centre. Then you can add the rest of the flowers and foliage gradually, and they will be held in place by the stems of the first few flowers, making it easy to arrange them where you want them. You may need to make a few adjustments here and there for height or position as you go along, but this is quite easy to do. Keep turning the arrangement around so that you get the flowers arranged evenly, giving you correct visual and actual balance.

For my design, I have chosen a tall gold coloured pottery container, which tones well with the autumn coloured flowers. It has a fairly wide neck, as there are quite a lot of flowers and foliage used. I have started with a collar of lime-green sisal, which sits on the rim of the container (this isn't very visible in the picture). This helps to hold the flowers in position. Foliage used is Arachniodes adiantiformis (Leatherleaf Fern), and Eucalyptus. Flowers used are spray Chrysanthemums, spray Carnations, standard Carnations, Roses, and Lilies.