Luis da Silva, senior florist and tutor at award-winning London florists McQueens, showed us how to create a contemporary arrangement using roses and red dogwood – perfect for a coffee table, desk or bedside table. Don’t be scared, this is flower arranging for beginners…

Roses and Dogwood

You’ll need

  • A medium-sized glass fishbowl
  • 3/4 stems of red-barked dogwood (or pussy-willow will do)
  • 2 bunches of roses (different shades).
  • Some florist’s string 3
  • 1

    Quarter-fill the fishbowl with water. Take some long stems of red dogwood, stretch and manipulate it to make it malleable

  • 2

    Then curve it around the inside of the bowl.

  • 3

    Remove thorns and leaves from the stems of the roses.

  • 4

    Group the roses together, creating a tight spiral with the stems.

  • 5

    Tie with florist’s string and trim the stems to the same length.

McQueens florist and school, 70-72 Old Street, London EC1V 9AN (020 7251 5505; order online at www.mcqueens.co.uk)