Jenny Derevere creates elegant and colorful arrangements with blooms from her flower farm, Jenny’s Garden and Design, in Stephens. The floral artist describes her designs as “garden style,” mimicking the free, loose and natural look of the plants that grow outside her back door. 

What you’ll need

• Assortment of dahlias, chrysanthemums or other fall blooms

• Small amount of various greenery for texture

• A flower frog to stabilize stems

• Chicken wire and clear tape, one-quarter inch wide for structure

• Garden shears for efficient shaping

• A flat work table

• A lazy Susan or 360-degree access to the arrangement.

• Your favorite urn-style vase (non-transparent)

Set your studio

Spread out your materials on a flat work table so you can see all the elements as you put the arrangement together. Place your urn on a lazy Susan or allow yourself space to move around the table.

Look for a vessel appropriate for the size of the arrangement. Derevere likes to use ceramic urns with heavier bottoms to ground her outreaching stems. Your plants will need a few points of support to hold the shape you build.

“I just kind of gobble over what (other designers) make. Then I try to emulate it, and then I end up making something that's just mine.”

- Jenny Derevere, Jenny’s Garden & Design

Strong foundation

Use a floral frog in the bottom of your vase to stabilize the stems. Derevere also uses clear tape cut into strips to create a crisscross formation across the top of the vase.

In combination with these small structural efforts, add a chicken wire cage domed over the tape tapestry to give your arrangement a solid foundation. Fill the vase with fresh water to about three-quarters full to finish the preparation for building out your design.

Find a muse

Pick a bloom and cut the stem to a desired length. Place it anywhere within the chicken wire and tape structure, being sure it sticks to the pins of the floral frog. Derevere recommends starting large and building around the eye-catching components.

“You just have to start where you are and emulate things that you see that you love,” Derevere said. “Try to understand what it is about those things that you love. Why does it look so good to you?” 

Petal play

Place each stem using your best judgment. Derevere said it’s all about creating a piece of art that you enjoy looking at. 

“Just kind of play with it and see where it takes you,” she said.

Reevaluate and improvise as you go, looking for areas to add variety. “I’ll add a zinnia for a nice textural change from all the dahlias,” Derevere said. “(This is) not the prettiest zinnia, but that's OK. I love the way it sticks out and it gives a little more height.”

Natural flow

Look for shapes in the way stems fall on their own. Derevere builds voluminous, flowing arrangements “that have depth” by strategically placing flowers. She uses a range of short and tall stems to create a sense of movement. 

Picking up a hot pink dinner plate dahlia, Derevere points out the influence of nature’s architecture.

“What's nice about this one is she’s kind of facing down, so she has a natural arch,” Derevere said. “I’m going to go with the natural movement that the stems and flowers are doing and I'm gonna let it dictate where it goes.” 

Show movement by utilizing asymmetry and curating the flowers to face different directions.

Final touches

Once blooms have taken most of the space, start adding bits of greenery. Take a step back every few moments to look for negative space. Spin the vase to get a full visual of the design and supplement any open areas with more greenery or additional statement blooms. 

Derevere chose to add even more dinner plate dahlias in bright pink hues at the last minute, which ultimately brought an essential finish of color to her design.

Floral artist Jenny Derevere sources from her plentiful dahlia and chrysanthemum harvests grown on-site at her farm in Stephens. With all different types and sizes of colorful blooms, the artist rejects traditional, muted fall tones and opts for a vibrant display. (Photo/Lily Baldwin)