How to Arrange Magnolias

Magnolias, the state flowers of Louisiana and Mississippi, grow on evergreen trees with attractive, deep green, waxy leaves. These trees grow easily, have few natural pests and emit an appealing scent that many people compare to lemons. Though magnolia blossoms are not particularly hardy, their unique shape, lush feel and large size easily serve to create short-term springtime arrangements. The stem of each flower itself is not very long, so cut magnolia blossoms from trees by removing very thin branches with one or two blossoms each.

Vase
Glass beads
Scissors
Magnolia leaves
Greenery
Curly willow branches

Instructions

- 1
  Choose a tall vase to accommodate the long, branch stems of your magnolia cuttings. Place 2 to 3 inches of glass beads in the bottom of the vase. Fill the vase ¾ full of water.
- 2
  Discard any magnolia cuttings with brown foliage or flowers, or leaves or petals with discolored spots. You will need five to 10 stems to create an arrangement. Remove any leaves from the bottom 2/3 of each magnolia stem.
- 3
  Pick up one magnolia and hold the stem end under running water. Snip off 1 inch of the magnolia stem at a 45-degree angle using sharp scissors while holding it beneath the flowing water. Plunge the stem directly into the prepared vase of water and repeat this for all of your stems of magnolia.
- 4
  Arrange the flowers so that the taller stems are toward the center and back and the shorter ones are toward the front. Pull out and shorten any stems that are so long they bend over or stick up above all the rest. Fill in any empty spaces using magnolia leaves, greenery or curly willow branches.

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