Our Vandas are well traveled (and they fly first class)! You already know that we travel around the world to find you the most exquisite stems that we possibly can, whether it’s peonies from New Zealand, Roses from the Andes Mountains, or Tulips from Holland. These Vandas are no exception! They can only be grown in tropical climates (like Hawaii or Southeast Asia), so we work closely with our partners to ensure they travel safely to the United States. Each blossom will be painstakingly harvested, and wrapped gently in cotton before being sealed into a temperature controlled box for travel. Because so much work goes into creating these special stems, it’s not an overstatement to say that they’re incredibly special. Typically, they’re very expensive when you find them in a flower shop, if they’re carried at all, and you will never see a Vanda Orchid at your local market.
Orchids are long lasting! Fresh cut orchids (like all tropical flowers) tend to have an amazing vase life with proper care. You know the care drill - fresh water and a stem trim every 2 days or so. When we were developing this bouquet, one of my amazing colleagues reached out to let me know that his orchids had lasted more than 2 weeks! If you have ever worked with flowers before, you’ll know that this is wild. Most bouquets will last 5-7 days depending on the component stems and their environment. Even with ideal care, roses and other stems will top out at about 10 days of vase life, and these orchids will absolutely outperform that if you’re a good flower mom.
I’m going to tell you exactly how to arrange them! Here is a stem by stem breakdown of how to make the most out of The Exotic Orchid:
- Remove the bouquet and vase from their packaging and lay the bouquet aside. This bouquet has a clear front and back, but just in case it needs to be said - do not lay the bouquet orchid side down.
- In general, handle the orchids gently. Don’t let yourself get paralyzed with fear, but these babies are worth protecting.
- Fill your vase with a cool mixture of water and flower food (mixing instructions will be on the back of the flower food sachet - usually it’s 1 sachet to 1 liter of water).
- Now, remove all the rubber bands and bindings from your bouquet because we’re going to go stem by stem here.
- First, trim and place the eucalyptus into the vase (this is the silver green foliage with smaller leaves). You’ll want to leave these stems a touch longer, so that they drape out of the vase – think 3-4” taller than the vase itself.
- Then, add your 3 big Aralia (Fatsia) leaves. They’re the broad green leaves. Try to position them on either side of the vase so that they can support the heavier orchids.
- Then add your stems of Leucadendron (the maroon foliage). I like them between the existing foliage stems sitting about 4” taller than the top of the vase. They add fun directional drama.
- Now come the orchids! First, remove the tubes. Those are for travel only, so please remove them and then trim your orchid stems about ¼”. Once you’ve trimmed, place them into the vase among the other greens. You should have enough of a grid to support them now. Note: You may need to snip 1-2 of the lower flowers off of each Vanda stem to get them to sit nicely together. Don’t panic about this, just float the removed flowers in a low bowl of water to enjoy them another way. No big swig!
- Finally, trim and tuck your berries between the stems in the vase to add some fun texture. For this bouquet, I like my hypercium berries closer in height to my eucalyptus.