'Shaping what wants to emerge'

Botanical artist Erik Lockley has more than 30 years of experience in floral design. For the clients of his Flower Shop in Antwerp, he creates field bouquets, special arrangements for top restaurants and designs gardens. Erik does not create floral arrangements but shapes what wants to be created.

'Christmas for me means celebration of light. The days grow longer again, life begins again, towards spring. Even though the flowers are still in the fields, their heads are hanging down because it is winter. They are dying, but also already bear life for the new year: the seeds that will soon fall into the earth. Broken branches are dead, but in combination with living materials you get a certain tension. That, too, is Christmas.

'For inspiration, I simply listened to the field, to the materials, to the space, and that's how these pieces were created. The creations are mainly based on light, on life, on direction, on balance between winter and summer. In the summer the materials have grown and now they come to their full potential here.'

Midwinter Magic

In the winter season, the world sounds just a little softer. The colors
shift to grayer tones, shapes and textures clearly outline themselves. In arrangements, each flower and branch is given its own stage.

'Working with a rich, wintry palette'

Floral designer Hanneke Frankema, as a native Frisian, loves the winter season very much. 'Creating a winter atmosphere is always a fun challenge. For a distinct winter atmosphere, working with candle wax remains very powerful - it has a beautiful cool sheen and a very wintry look that consumers find very special. By coating substrates of simple Styrofoam shapes (from packaging material) in quiet hours with a layer of candle wax, you can sell quite a lot of it during the Christmas and winter season.'

She thinks sustainability is something to consider more and more. 'Winter for me is also working with 100 percent natural materials. And reusing packaging or residual materials, for example, are very widely applicable. By placing bamboo tubes as water reservoirs on residual materials such as wooden cylinders, for example, you very quickly create slender objects that work powerfully as a group but also attract attention as single-flower objects.'

A peaceful look and cuddliness are also part of winter. 'A wreath of Davallia roots with Gypsophila 'Million Daisy' needs only three white Clematis flowers. But also consider mixing plants and cut flowers. Dried Corokia gives a beautiful gray winter look, Tillandsia matches it in color and appearance. With beautiful Gloriosa, Clematis, Scabiosa, Phalaenopsis, Bromelia and Polianthes tuberosa, a rich, winter palette is then created.'

'Providing ideas and creating a welcoming atmosphere'

Créatrice florale Charlotte Bartholomé cannot let the 10th anniversary of her flower store go unnoticed. 'Such a special moment should be celebrated, a unique opportunity to color the store in party mood and invite customers, friends and suppliers.

For all occasions, the store is transformed into an enchanting experience. For Christmas, too, the entire store should shine and exude a special Christmas atmosphere. 'I am going to decorate a very large Christmas tree anyway. A real one, which will be up to four meters high. Every year I change the color of the decoration. This year I'm going for bronze, brown, gold and a little green, with each corner having its own color. In the center will be a beautiful table decoration with floral arrangements. It's important to give people ideas.'

Charlotte loves the cozy warm atmosphere of Christmas, of making her customers happy. 'Classic shapes like stars and wreaths remain a fixture, but I also like to experiment with new shapes and materials. Besides red and green, pale tones combined with gold and bronze will play an important role this year. And certainly also creations with light.'

Graphic silhouette

This fan is constructed as a frame bouquet: fresh Tillandsia is tightly wrapped around 5mm aluminum wire to form a resilient support. In this frame, Clematis Amazing Kansas gets the stage, complemented by sophisticated accents of Talinum 'Long John', Polianthes tuberosa, Phalaenopsis, Gloriosa and beautiful foliage for some added depth and detail. The combination of airy plant textures and slender flower stems delivers a light and graphic winter silhouette.

Sober elegance

Two cylinder vases on bases are tightly wound with dried branches, with the tight and neat binding lines being a deliberate part of the design. Flowers are sandwiched between the branches, allowing for quick and efficient work, provided the wood is completely dry - in fact, fresh branches still shrink. Flower varieties such as Sanguisorba and Gloriosa are shown off elegantly in this austere setting.