- It's time now for a special segment here on "Living West Michigan."

Each week we get to talk and learn with everyone's favorite neighborhood flower guy J Schwanke about how to make stunning arrangements that will have you living in bloom.

(bright music) J, I cannot tell you how much I love blue flowers.

- Awesome.

- That's my favorite color.

- Awesome.

That's perfect then.

Then we're in the right spot.

- We're in the right spot.

- Now, I don't know if you know this, but blue is the hardest color to locate in flowers.

It has the smallest quantity.

- I did not know that.

- So we're familiar with blue hydrangeas.

Blue delphinium is also something that's very popular.

Even the blue that comes up in our wonderful bird of paradise, that's a natural blue in there.

And complimentary colors.

- Absolutely.

- So will always cause excitement.

So typically when I make a blue arrangement, I will put it in a blue vase to help impact that color a little bit more.

- Wow.

Give it that extra punch.

- Yes.

Today I brought a brand new blue chrysanthemum.

It's from a company that is bioengineering these by placing the gene from Delphinium into these flowers.

So these are naturally colored from natural color flowers and- - But it's purposeful.

- It's purposeful to make them a blue color.

The company that does this wants to do the impossible, and so they're making blue roses, they're making blue chrysanthemums.

So exactly.

- Those are absolutely stunning.

- So we're gonna use some of these today in our arrangements as well.

- All right.

- So I have a selection for you.

I gave you this wonderful artsy vase because that seems like it's beautiful for you.

And so in mine, I'm actually using chicken wire.

So I threw some chicken wire down inside there.

Both of us need structure to start with.

So I think it's a great opportunity for you to use some delphinium like that and one of the hydrangeas to create some structure for your vase.

- All right.

- In contrast, I'm gonna use them separately over here, but I'm gonna use them all the same length and I'm still gonna go in with them in one spot.

- Okay, and I cut, I'm gonna put mine, let's see.

- Right.

Perfect.

- And we're gonna do this.

- Yep.

- Okay.

- Now grab your hydrangea.

- Okay.

- And you're gonna cut your hydrangea probably right about that long or so.

- Okay.

- And you're going to kick it right in the front.

Exactly.

- Wonderful.

- That's exactly what you're doing.

- That's beautiful.

Look at that.

- Okay, and so now you can go ahead and add your other flowers as you please, because you've created a structure.

- So this is my base?

- Correct.

- And then I just kind of fill it in after that.

- Exactly, exactly.

And so with that chicken wire, it allows me a little bit more precision with my flowers so I could like reflect the bird of paradise that we have to give them a little bit more of an angle, but chicken wire, I'm gonna tell you everybody that wants to use chicken wire and wants to make a chicken wire arrangement.

Chicken wire is not for the faint of heart.

- Did you do that yourself, make those holes?

Or does it come like that?

- Chicken wire comes like that.

It's the poultry netting that we would put in a chicken coop.

- Right, so it's already... - It's already like that.

:¦ - Pulled together, yeah.

- And then what I did was I just wadded it up into a wad and put it down inside the vase.

And it's a new mechanic that a lot of people like to use because it's eco-friendly.

- Okay.

- All right.

So I love that.

And I like that the birds inside here, you know, make it look- - Yes.

- That'll be a little bit of a nod to our chicken wire that's down inside there.

Look at you, look at you go.

It's so amazing.

- I don's know if I'm doing that right, but I'm just popping 'em in and these are beautiful flowers.

- [J] Right?

- This is so fun.

- And that's the best.

Oh, see And that's the way it should be.

Turn around, turn around so everybody can see what you're doing.

- Did I do good?

- Yeah, you should add a couple of those bird of paradise 'cause a little bird told me that you used to get those when you lived- - When I lived in San Francisco, it was my favorite flower.

- Yeah, it's wonderful, - It's so beautiful.

- Yeah, it's just, you know, I think, I think the really important part is that we enjoy our flowers and that we pick flowers that have great memories for us.

- Absolutely.

- And the memories that you shared with me about those, made me feel like that's exactly what we need to have today.

So when you're arranging flowers with your friends, okay, up, up.

- Okay, move it.

Move it.

- Exactly.

I think it's amazing that when you're working with flowers or you're talking with somebody and you ask them about their first memory of flowers, it's gonna spark a story.

- Yes.

- And that's because they're so emotional.

- They absolutely are.

- And it's just the feeling that it gives you.

- Yeah.

And it does, it relates and it's kind of like mental health in a way.

I mean, it really can blossom your day, so to speak.

- Absolutely.

And there are proven research documents.

We have 'em on our website and with all these studies that were done by Dr. Havelin Jones that proved that flowers make us feel better, it's the health and wellness aspects that flowers have.

It's truly a great way to be living life in bloom.

- Beautiful.

(bright music) (bright music) - Celebrating vibrant people, captivating places, and remarkable things.

This is "Living West Michigan."

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