Birds of Paradise Holiday Bouquet

I love winter branches and berries, rich fragrant juniper, pretty holly and red berries. But as odd as it may sound, I love throwing in a few stalks of unbloomed birds of paradise. The long slender stalks bring in an unexpected humor to a winter bouquet and makes me think of Santas in shorts with sunglasses on, while sipping on frosty beach drinks, like margaritas or even better, pina coladas. Growing up on the cold winters of the east coast, I've always thought, how fun it must be to enjoy the holidays surrounded by palm trees and sandy beaches and adding in the tropical flower, brings that vision a little closer. It's not only a beautiful and unique flower but long lasting. Come new years', you can upcycle your bouquet, (removing what has dried, if anything has and adding in something new, if you like) and "pop" open your birds of paradise, giving a burst of color to your bouquet and hopefully the new year!

For this bouquet, I put in two birds of paradise stalks, cut at different lenghts (if they have a slight film on them, spray them with a fruit and vegetable wash and follow the instructions on the bottle and it pretty much clears up, repeat if needed) and added in the red berry branch. I tucked in juniper branches in the front and a little behind the birds of paradise and added in the variegated holly as a filler, trimming to the desired heights. Adding in white branches would be nice, along with any pine tree trimmings. For the vase, I wrapped a clear glass vase with burlap and tied it with a red bow. (Do this step before filling your vase, lol, my mistake.) If your birds of paradise haven't opened up on their own, (they take a long time to bloom) dip the top part into warm water and gently pull out the flower inside, helping it along. ;)