Make Bells of Ireland Beautiful
One of the more unusual cut flower garden favorites is at its best right now: Moluccella laevis or Bells of Ireland. Their yellowy green color and unusual shapes can pack a punch in any design and they have the most amazing fragrance. It’s very fresh and almost like lime. If green had a smell, it would be like Bells.
As lovely as they are, Bells of Ireland are probably the most frequently misused of the cut flowers. To be fair, they can be a little tricky to work with. I see single stems of them randomly stuffed into farm stand types of bouquets all the time, often up against a circus of colors and shapes. Rather than enhancing the beauty of any flower in the design, it comes off as confused.
I realize that I sound judgey, but I’ll just own it. It bothers me that many people consider local flowers to be cheap and rustic because that’s how they’ve seen local flowers presented. And that’s not right because, in fact, they are elevated and vibrant with life.
I want to talk to you a little bit about how to think about this special bloom so that you can bring out the best in Bells to create something really beautiful and elegant.
Prep your stems
When you cut a branch of Bells, there will be leaves along the stalk and on the end of the stem. They look beautiful when you first cut them, but honestly, they don’t hold up well. And it isn’t long before they wilt, making everything around them seem sad and ratty.
So, start by trimming off all the leaves. You can also strip off any bells on the lower part of the stem that will be under water.
A freshly cut stalk of Bells with its leaves in tact
The same stem cleaned up
All of the leaves have been removed and the lower stem is clean and ready to go into a vase.
Use multiple stems
A single stem on its own will usually look like it was just stuck into the design. Alone, Bells can come off as random and weird.
Because they are so unusual, consider Bells to be the anchor and starting point of any design - not an afterthought to be tucked in at the end. By including a generous amount of stems, you will automatically create unity in your design by repeating them throughout the arrangement.
Color is your foundation
Bells are a very yellowy green so it pays to think of them almost like they are actually yellow. Build your color pallet from there.
In my example design, I looked for flowers that had a range of yellows along with some that repeated the same yellowy green in the Bells.
I included yellow and white snap dragons, sunrich gold sunflowers, matricaria, and giant yellow marigolds in the collection for my arrangement.
A handful of beautiful blue forget me nots provides just enough zip and contrast to be interesting. The forget-me-nots bring little pops of contrast that provide some zing without being zany
Arrange the Bells first
By placing the Bells in my vase before anything else, I achieve three things:
Create the overall structure and patterns of the design.
Make a nice matrix of stems that will allow me to thread in new flowers with the confidence that they will stay put where I choose to place them
The mass of Bells makes a unifying theme that holds the design together visually
Once the Bells are in place I’m set up to add the other stems and finish my arrangement.
Consider shape
The beautiful green cones are part of what makes Bells of Ireland distinctive. Good design will take an element like a shape (or a line, color, texture etc) and repeat it with some variation throughout the design.
I’ve always loved the arrangement below that was done by a guest at one of our design workshops at the farm in a previous season. You can see that she used plenty of Bells throughout the design and paired them with white Dahlias. The dahlias have curved petals that almost echo the shape of the Bells. They naturally provide that repetition with variety and really elevate the design.
These white dahlias repeat a variation of the bell shape but they also have a bit of that distinctive yellowy green in their centers too. Yet another form of repetition that really works.
The color is excellent in this design. Because of its beautiful subtlety, it stays in the background so you can really enjoy the play of shapes.
Give it a go
If you haven’t grown Bells of Ireland yourself, they are all over the place right now (at least in the N Hemisphere). If you have a farmers market in your community, I’ll bet you can find some in a market bouquet if not a bunch all on their own. I hope you snag a few and let this belle of the summer inspire your creativity.
