‘Showing the power of symbolism’

With a passion for nature and creativity, Peter van Asselt combines his work as a nurse with his love for green art. After a number of vocational training courses, he has increasingly focused on liturgical and symbolic floral arrangements, sustainably made with as many organic flowers as possible.

‘As a liturgical arranger, I am associated with the Abbey of Egmond, where I provide floral arrangements for high feasts and special occasions. I also organize workshops and exhibitions such as Symbolism and Green. Through my floral work, I mainly want to show the power of symbolism and natural beauty. Nature is inspiration and at the same time the basis for my arrangements that express wonder and gratitude for nature. What nature gives us, but also what nature asks of us, makes me silent and humble.’

'Together with Hanneke Maassen, I am currently working on a book about natural arrangements based on the rhythm of the seasons, which will be published in mid-2025. For the DPK Floral Magazine special on Spring, I drew inspiration from various themed holidays: Why not also Pink Day and World Bee Day?'

Blooming simplicity

Solidago ‘Caran Glory’ is arranged with a very consistent movement in a wreath shape on a base of Oasis Floral Foam Bio. In the resulting open center space, Narcissus ‘Dutch Master’ and Narcissus ‘Tête-à-Tête’ are arranged short, with some offshoots extending halfway into the Solidago wreath shape.

Cycle

For this base, a vase is three-quarters filled with Oasis Floral Foam Bio for the heavy stems; the upper part of the vase is filled with Oasis TerraBrick for the softer stems and a beautiful finish. The base is made of dried sunflowers and dried roadside flowers from last summer. The tulips, Clematis Amazing Sevilla, Sanguisorba 'Red Dream', Talinum 'Long John', Chaenomeles, Fritillaria meleagris, Geranium, Hamamelis, Helleborus 'Bella Belles', Ranunculus, and Polianthes tuberosa 'grow' through this frame. All materials are arranged in a natural-looking parallel manner.

Natural whole

A base of flowering Hamamelis branches is inserted into a funnel-shaped vase containing Oasis Floral Foam Bio and a top layer of Oasis TerraBrick Floral Media. A wide variety of flowers are inserted between these. The open space around creates a natural-looking spring arrangement, which can of course be made in different sizes and densities.

Spring explosion

In a glass bowl filled with clay, bamboo stems of varying heights have been inserted – these have been sawn into pieces with a band saw to prevent splintering. The bamboo serves as a water carrier but also as a support to hold the flowers in place. A great diversity of spring flowers has been incorporated: Gloriosa, Papaver, Anemone, Ranunculus, Polianthes tuberosa, Sanguisorba, Talinum ‘Long John’, and Chasmanthium latifolium.

Spring rhythm

This table piece has a flat rectangular dish as its base, in which Oasis Floral Foam Bio is applied. The purple-blue Eryngium is processed shortly on the floral foam and forms the basis of this arrangement. The spring flowers are consistently inserted crosswise parallel into the base for an airy and transparent effect. Flowers used: Hamamelis, Fritillaria meleagris, Muscari, Clematis Amazing Star River, Ranunculus.