Number 1: Music… duh

Of course when your name is dj Tecumseh and you run Bamboo Beats, there must be music. And what is better than one fly turntablist? Three turntablists.

The reason for this may be obvious. We want more of this dancing on one’s head business…

…and less of what this orange shirted gal has to offer. This is me mastering the good ole clap, stomp, wiggle, wiggle. My other move is the shaka-legga-shaka-legga-shaka-legga-shaka. But for some reason Alante Photography decided not to document that.

Number 2: Have a little “Whuuuh?!” Factor

We love the Bamboo Beats parties because they allow us to make the stuff that typically aren’t requested. Unexpected decor is key to an unusually fun party. Have expected decor and you can have a usually fun party. When people walk into a party, I want them to feel like anything could happen. It drives up the adrenaline, opens up awareness, and sends the guest exploring for more uncommon details. Pull together some appropriately “out-there” looks and you are on your way to priming your guests to be jumping in anticipation for the night to come.

For this 9 foot tall cardboard, street art-astic flower urn, we partnered with artist Eli. Eli is a mysterious artist and so we don’t know what his last name is or if Eli is even really his name at all. He provided us with the night’s motto, “GET WEIRD.”

We set up the back room of Within Sodo as a ceremony set with 9 foot tall arch-screen sprayed up by Eli, our racetrack aisle runner, orange tree, and decals on the chairs with words from Digital Underground’s 1991 hit “Kiss You Back”

Number 3: Good Eats

The importance of the unexpected is transferable to food as well. Here we’ve got Baked Custom Cakes with adorable cupcakes in a shocking color palette, but whuuuuh? A boombox cake and a splatter paint cake? Can’t wait to put them in my mouth. And by the way, those are our newest vase acquisitions with metal flower armatures. So cool.

And more food outside with Dantes Inferno Hot Dogs (and veggie dogs) and Skillet’s fried chicken and waffle bar!

This guy clearly loves street food.

Number 4: Drinks for thirsty dancers.

The Invisible Hostess and Pearl Vodka provided bright and refreshing cocktails all night. And what says, “Come hang with us” like a cold can of Hilliards? 

Nothing like a Hilliard’s to sooth a break dancing injury.

Number 5: Freak Show

What’s he doing? taming a rabid rhino? Making furniture levitate with his eyes? Is he a human statue? No, he’s Valentine of Valentine’s Men’s Grooming Salon. So he’s not really a freak but his skills are freakish. Just his meticulous care for these dude’s heads leaves crowds mesmerized and turns manscaping into a spectacle. And this sort of unexpected spectacle goes a long way in making people remember a party.

Number 6: Document!

Because nobody will believe you that your party was so fly, you must document! Our generous chroniclers of awesome were Alante Photography and Tyler Mayeno Films

Any other time of year, I can buy a rose with the change under my car’s floor mat. Or with money that  I might not inconvenience myself with bending my lazy butt over to pick off the sidewalk. This weekend, however? It costs me more than the price of a fancy, organic, shade grown bean latte. For the price of one rose, I could drive a gas guzzler from North Seattle to Tacoma and back. For one. fleeting. red. flower. Tack eleven more onto that and sheesh!

It is shocking. And of course as a floral designer, this time of year, fellas who never get their special people flowers any other time of year whine to me that they are getting ripped off. The crazy thing is… they aren’t. The hike in price runs all the way down the flower industry food chain and while there certainly is a little bit of opportunistic pricing, allow me to explain a little of what goes on around this crazy time of year when everybody wants the same. fleeting. red. flower.

Of course, this will be illustrated in Swedish Fish and Gummy Bears because I have more of them than I do of expensive roses.

(If you read my previous post condemning sugar from my diet as part of my “new healthy me” plan, you will be happy to know that the animal confections shown in this post shall not be ingested. They will be gifted to my special people… since I cannot afford the price of red roses)

The yummy fishes and the yummy bears are roses. The yummy fishes are all the different roses that are not red. The yummy bears are red roses.

Throughout the year, lots of people love to eat all the yummy fish and bears.

And since the fish and bears can only be made under certain sun and climate conditions, happy fish-and-bear-maker-people all over the world make the yummy fish and bears so that we can have them whenever we want, whenever we want. Production of fish and bears and consumption of fish and bears plods along at a happy balance…. but once a year…..

Everyone wants the yummy bears. Just the bears. There are plenty of fishes, but they just won’t do. They want the bears. Even people that don’t like yummy bears want bears. They know they have to have them, that their domestic lives will be improved, that they will receive disapproving looks if they don’t have the bears. These people can be likened to zombies.

Good zombies.

And every zombie who wants a bear, gets one. Zombie just has to pay more. And why?

Because in all the nice places of the world, happy fish-and-bear-maker-people have been planning for the day when all the zombies will want only bears only for a little while. And because it is so big, and so short, and all they want is bears, it takes a lot of planning. Rooms that cover hillsides are stashed with yummy bears. Can you have a yummy bear in January? No. It is for Valentine’s Day only.

Can you maybe use the rooms to store your couch in while you paint your living room? No. Its exclusive purpose is to hold yummy bears for the day the zombies will want them.

Can maybe a yummy fish-and-bear-maker-person take a day off during this time? No. They must care for the yummy bears.

And all the space and light and water and heat, and happy fish-and-bear-maker-people love goes into caring for those bears, and all the money goes to pay for all that space and light and water and heat and love months before Zombie will need them. Just so that on the day Zombie wants them, Valentine’s Day, they will be yummy. But more important, they will be THERE!

Thank you happy fish-and-bear-maker-people, and thank you Zombie.

And, if yummy bears are too expensive. You can still buy yummy fish. But as history shows… you probably won’t.

Oh yes. We (Lola Event Floral & Design) recently participated in Weddings in Woodinville, an exclusive wedding show in which vendors are hand picked for awesomeness and asked to transform a space as if jaws dragging on floors were the main objective.

We were selected by Kelli at Shindig Events which is excellent since we go together like charred crust on a roasted sh’mallow. We were teamed up with Matthews Estate Winery, an expansive site with tons of options for amazing events, and Shane Macomber with Shane Macomber Photography.

Good thing we handed out napkins… to wipe the dirt off the jaws…. from the dragging, you know. And the drool off the leaves… and the tears of joy… and the anticipatory perspiration… and the… nevermind.

Spanish moss, a cord of wood, and airy forest greenery! Um,I should mention that we rent these things.

the Spanish moss from below. Magical.

Rustic furniture, big ole clear tent, warmth, plates and glass by ABC rentals by Cort, linens by Creative Coverings, table design by Shindig, paper by Paper Fling, Flowers by Lola

faux antler chandelier, yo. That’s actually what the bride is saying with her eyes… that and “Thanks for the warm shrug, yo.”

Sometimes when there is so much awesome, you need some simplicity to balance it out.  

Pinecone garland

Smore deliciousery by Lady Yum. (and they were)

I’m glad we pulled off this shrug just before the event started. Dresses here and below by Dress Theory, hair and makeup by Off White, and headpieces by Off White and Madprops.

Fine, fine suit by Trillium

Garden Rose, bouvardia, and freesia bouquet by Lola Event Floral & Design

Our fine, fine, elk man made of papier mache,sticks, and paper products, in a fine, fine suit by Trillium tailor. Elk suits were out of stock so we had to squeeze him into a human suit.

This photo is by Soper Photography

Paper by Paper Fling.

Eats provided by Foodz Catering.

Super awesome lights provided by the Bunch Store.

Sh’mallows roasting over a chalkboard fire.

More yummies by lady yum. The red ones were mango Habanero. They blew my mind.

So if you haven’t already seen it on the Huffington Post or other outlets, here it is again- this time with our own photos. Definitely go to Alex Rubin’s page for pics of the beautiful couple, more book arch, and more wedding photos.

Thank you, also, to the couple for being so neato and for choosing such a great team of creative professionals

To the Lola Event Floral & Design team for all the great pieces and long hours of mindless book drilling.

Pink Blossom Events for planning, paper flower centerpieces, and in general making everything work.

Sodo Park/ Herban Feast for the iconic site and tasty eats

Heathoriginals for paper flower mastery

and Rubin Photography for capturing it all.

The color palette was predetermined by the book; white and black with red accents. I kept a notepad by my reading spot to write down any shapes, visual elements, or materials. The list included wrought iron, clock parts, birds, red rose, ornate scripted text, circles and rings, trees, apothecary bottles, cards, book pages, candles, runes, and tattoos.

The ice garden and the cloud maze were the most magical parts of the book. They were represented by the ice tree and the cloud mobile. Fluffy clouds dangled from tree branches and were lit from within with LEDs.

Each arrangement was pin lit from above for an eerie and dramatic effect.

All white flower arrangements were set in black and white striped vases. A little curl of black wrought iron set in each one.

Flowers included hydrangea, white roses and locally grown lilies and gladiola.

Thank you all for a great event!

These guys kept me company.

The week prior to the wedding I filled with visits to Portland’s famous gardens and public spaces that I had only read about in landscape architecture books and journals, tours of the areas coffee houses, and a dinner with my bestie from my pre-teen years- long lost but found through the magic of facebook.

In three days I would hit up:

Lovejoy fountain

The Grotto

Tanner Springs

Jamison Square

The Japanese Garden

the Rose Garden (eh, the one by the Japanese garden, at least)

and Pittock Mansion.

We’ll tackle the first four today.

My first stop was Lovejoy Fountain, an urban space designed by Halprin and Associates that I’ve oogled over in books since I was a wee landscape design student.

I’ve seen photos in the fall with leaves floating in the pools, photo stilled, clear water running over concrete, people dancing on the floating platforms, etc. Lovely, right?

Not so much. Maddening actually. Not only is the sound of water crashing unnerving rather than relaxing, but the entire space seemed to be a monstrosity, set upon the landscape rather than woven into it. Hard, arrogant, and unwelcoming are words I would use to describe this space. Concrete and water but no life.

Next stop was the Grotto, which I had never heard of but was a place some high seo ranking yelper recommended. The grotto is a many-acred Catholic shrine and botanic garden dedicated to “The Sorrowful Mother.” A little depressing but sounds like it might be lovely.

The grotto is carved out of the rock face of a cliff. Mind slowing chants are pumped from some mysterious speaker, and lush foliage drips off the rocks. Pretty impressive. I can see how the faithful would love to worship in this place. To get to the botanic garden, one must donate a fee to ride up this elevator (or I assume trek up through the woodland). Once I saw this elevator, I had to get in.

If this is the gateway to the botanic garden beyond, then I was about to be wowed indeed. Surely some kind of transformation would occur in an elevator like this. Some amazing experience would be revealed at the top. So I held my breath and pressed the ‘up’ button.

whuh?….. No. My anticipation shriveled. This cannot be the interior to the elevator of transcendence… sigh.

I should have stopped at the elevator. Unfortunately what lay beyond was not inspiring enough to persuade my little finger to nudge the shutter. This place was less botanic garden and more a repository for well intentioned donations chronicling pain and sacrifice. No wonder the Mother is sorrowful. Perhaps a design minded devotee can donate some landscape design expertise.

Thirsty for some coffee and in need of some inspiration, I headed back into the city. Where are the spaces that inspire and engage. Magnetic places? Places where anyone can find some peace, connection, and transcendence? While walking to my next stop, Tanner Springs, I stumbled over Jamison Square.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doubledale38/2606291240/

(Gasp)! This is it! The perfect solution to the heavy handed and misguided Lovejoy Fountain and the depressing Grotto! Jamison Square, the Sanctuary for the Joyful Family. Swarming with people, buzzing with laughter, open and accessible. Thank you, Portland, this place is positively uplifting!

Up the street from Jamison Square is Tanner Springs the kind of landscape inspiration I had been looking for.

This place not only has a function to filter and reduce stormwater runoff, but it also promotes sustainable practices in a way that doesn’t slam you upside the head. Historic railroad and stone is reused in the walkway and art wall, native plants are used throughout, and the site offers a variety of spaces in which to relax.

Historical elements are rearranged into a design for now.

 Orderly lines are softened and interrupted by strategic disorder.

Tanner Springs has places to take a nap and read, or places to people watch.

Stay tuned for more Portland excursions!

Every texture and color conveyed richness and movement. Since we were located at the Botanic Garden, what a great opportunity to display landscape plants that are uncommonly used in floral design.

These photos were taken by the talented Tracie Howe over at Tracie Howe Photography. You will have seen hers (and our work) in May’s travel themed post in Wedding Chicks.

Here we show local physocarpus, willow, Mexican feather grass, and Blue Star Juniper in a copper trumpet vase. Also shown are orange coffeebreak roses, green hydrangea, spanish moss, faux pheasant feathers, and grapewood. Table, runner, and furnishings beyond are by Vintage Ambiance- Vintage and Antique rentals.

This arrangement began (as they all do) with a sketch.

More yummy, rich, fall colors were displayed on Vintage Ambiance’s display. They featured their new farm tables, gold toned vintage vases, and amber glass vessels.

Place settings by Vintage Ambiance, elegant invites by Izzy Girl.

I just love those ruffly Coffeebreak roses.

Number 5- You know how much we love working with Pravda Studios.

Number 4- You know how much we love sticks…. and logs… and rocks. There are so many situations and arrangements in life that can be improved with a stick.

Number 3- You know how much we love our Seattle University community and the luminous St. Ignatius Chapel

Number 2- Clearly Joseph understands the joy and power that comes from sporting Party Socks as shown in Kim Hayes’ photo collage capturing the event.

And finally- Number 1- This is actually the first time I, personally,  have experienced an exuberant, purely joy-filled bride on her wedding day. No sign of stress, no nerves, just bursting happiness and excitement. I hope Kate will write a letter for every other bride on how it is done. With all the tradition and timeline, it’s hard to remember that weddings are the ultimate party. These two, and their families knew that.

So thank you Kate and Joseph for the inspiring presentation on how to rock your wedding.
We’ve taken notes!

Below are some images of Kate and Joseph’s centerpieces by Lola Event Floral & Design.
More (and way better) photos are available on Kim Haye’s Photography Blog.

These arrangements featured succulents, driftwood bowls, dusty miller, green and white rose, hosta leaves, green trick balls, and scabiosa buds.

Table numbers were applied to stained driftwood bits.

Delicate “cloud” vases held bits of hydrangea, bellflower, hydrangea, and peony.

Thanks to the newlyweds!

Yes! Well we think so too. And so did the creative thinkers over at Seattle Bride Magazine when they asked Lola Event Floral & Design to contribute to their ocean themed feature for the upcoming issue that will hit stands this week.

Sliminess and smell aside, seaweed is alluring because first, the sliminess and smelliness means probably no one else will be working with it and second because the translucency and watery quality epitomizes the ocean and our Puget Sound region. Third, the texture is so unique.

Check out the lovely translucency in this gorgeous image from this winter’s Northwest coast inspired post.

Well, we thought we’d share with you what we learned while working with this ocean grower.

First some rules. Seaweed is habitat for a variety of species with erosion control properties that are so important for coastlines. Just as we don’t rip plants out of forests to play with, we don’t rip seaweed from rocks. Luckily, there are plenty of pretties just layin’ about awaitin’ to be haaaaarrrvested. (back pirate, back… sigh). There are also some restrictions on which beaches you can harvest from. For more info, peruse the fish and wildlife page on shellfish and seaweed harvesting.

We harvested a bunch of different varieties but were most successful with the little curly red/ purple seaweed and these large green leaves.

We started by rinsing our seaweed in cold water (warm water makes them super gooey) and setting them out on some wax paper. We wanted them to be sealed so that they would maintain shape as they dried and preserve the coloring. We wanted a clear and flexible coat. For this we tried Golden’s Self-Leveling Gel and High Solid Gel to test the best product.

The Self-Leveling Gel is above and the High Solid Gel below. These are found in the acrylic paint section of your art store. They were both applied with a soft brush (big, floppy, cloud soft) so it wouldn’t pull the delicate plant. Both mediums produced a clear seal, though we went with the self-leveling gel because it produced a thicker coat that added heft to the delicate leaf so we could really play with it. We did find that the coloring changed drastically during this process. We have not tested whether this is due to a reaction with the sealant, or exposure to the sun. It’s worth giving Mod Podge a shot to test it’s colorfastness and to save some money.

After carefully flipping the pieces, we coated the other side, let dry completely and curled it into these unusual tufts cascading out of the arrangement below.

The arrangement is placed in a recycled glass vessel with plant roots (a nod to the eroding land into the sea) and plants with shapes that mimic sea life. We also sealed mussels shells we found after a sea bird feast. The interiors are a lovely opalescent blue that really glow with a little gloss.

Enjoy! Don’t forget to pick up a copy of the new magazine! Let us know what you think.

That’s a nice bouquet, bow lady. Needs some seaweed.

Original ideas with unclear approaches? We find one or three.

No information on where to find or get something unique? We find it… or make it.

You don’t think we can strap that to our pickup truck? Oh, we think we can.

You saw a waterlily arrangement at a Los Angeles event and want to do something similar for the Pacific Science Center King Tut Gala? You’ve heard they are difficult to work with? And you need them for not one night but two?- Puh-leez.  It’s a flower, we can figure it out. This thing is going to be Tut-tacular.

(sigh)

We’ve not worked with waterlilies before, and as it turns out, not a lot of people have. Apparently they are difficult. But, we figured, it has been done. No ambiguity there. So, if there is a solution, we are the ones to find it. And the lack of information out there was just fuel to the fire to jump into a floral experiment that can be shared.

For challenging tasks, we try to fail early and often to work out the unknowns. I, personally, love this process. It’s like little clues to a multi-dimensional puzzle that always comes together. THIS process, however, had me in a battle with a flower- a  flower I expected to figure out on Round 1: Waterlily, meet Human. But after Round 2: Waterlily Pamper and Coax, the flowers were given a new name “Jerklips”, though “Pond Scum” was also a contender. Round 3: Waterlily and Human Accord had me thinking we were going to be all right, but after the Final Round: Humans are Slaves to the Waterlily it was clear I was still being schooled by a swamp grower.

Here’s our story… (you can skip to the bottom if you don’t want the play by-play)

Pre-Experiment:

We would need about 100 white waterlilies. Two months before the event, we found a local grower. Done. Commence online and phone research. At this point we learn that waterlilies are pretty short-lived to begin with. We learn that they open up every day, and close up every evening usually by 4pm. They have about a 5 day life. They are cut on the first day of opening, shipped the second, so we’ve got a 2-3 day window. They are happiest in warm weather under direct sun. So the challenge is… get them happy enough to open and get them to stay open well after their natural inclination is to shut tight.

Photo taken in MAY by niiicedave from Flickr

Hmmm….warm and sunny,  tricky.

One month before we checked in on our supplier to see how our little lovelies were growing… They were NOT growing. What was an “Absolutely they will be ready” turned into a “No way they will be ready”.

(sigh)

Our new supplier was found in Texas where warmth and sun abounds. Texas Waterlilies is a privately owned aquatic plant grower and not only had more waterlilies than I would ever know what to do with, they also had a wealth of readily available knowledge, top-notch customer service, experience selling cut flowers to floral designers, patience, and a man named Dusty with a way of speech that a Texas man named Dusty should have. Finding these people was relief and happiness. I immediately ordered about 10 of their hardiest, toughest, awesomest waterlilies.

Round One: Waterlily, Meet Human

The lilies were shipped overnight and arrived around noon wrapped in wet newspaper and sealed in a plastic bag. The plastic bag was packed in bigger box with some extra padding. The day was what, we Seattleites, would call a sunny spring day. Probably around a high of 60 degrees F. We immediately cut the stems under water and put them out on a sunny ledge- half in flower solution the other half just in water. The tight buds nudged open just a little tiny bit. As the afternoon wore on, we switched them around to the warmest areas of the lot, finally landing on the hood of my pickup, the hottest spot I could find. Not a budge. We moved them to a hot plate- formerly used for my sweetie’s awesome buckwheat pancakes. (You owe me, waterlily!) Still nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G .”They must just be totally shocked”, I thought. “Poor little guys,” I thought.

This is how to NOT get waterlilies to open.

Oy, more research was needed. I floated the waterlilies in the shop and  frantically called Dusty, who was nice enough to return my call on a weekend. “Just get them above 80 and in the sun, ” he says.

photo by Jess Beemouse

(Riiiiiiight, 80.)

I also learned that the stems have to stay wet. (Oy, that shoulda been a given)

The next morning, I opened my shop (which gets pretty warm with the doors closed) and what did I find? Half open waterlilies in the dark. So apparently it’s more of a warmth thing. I can get warmth better than I can get sun. Day two I put them in warm water but it was too late. they were done. Time for Round Two.

Round Two: Waterlily, Pamper and Coax

Round two came like the first, but with some extras (thanks Dusty). This time they were kept in the sunniest place in the house since it was clear warmth is what we were after. I put a layer of plastic wrap over their water bath and I cranked up the heat. Fifty percent of them opened- a little. The others, nothing. And at 4pm they were all shut. They received the name Jerklips because they when they shut, they really do shut all the way, there is no visible sign that they intend to open again at all, ever. There is no communication to the human caretakers. Jerks.

Then something happened. On day two with the same conditions the lilies that were half-opened on day one were ready for business on day two. (the other half never opened). Good enough! They are absolutely glorious when they are open. We melted down some waxed and applied the wax at the base of the petals with a squeeze dropper.

We drove some over to our clients for a meeting so that they could determine for themselves if the level of openness was going to be sufficient. We found that even with wax, after 4pm they closed in a little- and sometimes wonkily. After 10pm they were just “okay”. We suggested an alternative flower, but our client was firm that it had to be waterlilies- MORE WAX!

Round 3: Waterlily and Human Accord

We chose to use only the white waterlilies for their color and because they stayed open the longest. We received the waterlilies and immediately put them in warm water inside a bath with plastic covering. The lilies had the rest of the day to relax in water before they were open enough to wax. Be prepared for them to close up after their day of rest. This is a horrifying time because they look like they will never open again. They will.

Day one Round three- Waterlilies will almost fully open.

The next morning (about 7am) we added more warm water to get the water temp back up. Around 11am, most of them were open and glorious! The duds (buds that don’t open) improved to 40% instead of half the shipment. This time we waxed more heavily, filling up large pools of wax, not only around the petals closest to the middle, but in every petal clear down to the base of the flower.

Day two, Round three- Lilies are ready for wax.

Sufficiently waxed.

Leave the pooled wax on the petals. Removing it will damage the petal- and you won’t see it in water.

Waxed and waiting! This photo was taken at 7:30 pm- still looking good. top right is the 6 minute wax time.

The entire waxing and wait time was about 8 minutes PER FLOWER! Since we would need about 120 lilies, that’s a lot of labor. We tested a 6 minute lily just to see if some time could be saved.

By the way, check out how much the flowers close just during the waxing process. Pre-wax is on the left and immediately post- wax is on the right.  And here is a cross-section of the stem. Be sure to cut the stems under water. I’m not fully sure how this plant works but you can tell by looking at the cross-section where the water is. If you see water pulled up into the quarters, that is good. If the capillaries are open and free of water, I’d keep cutting under water until you see water.In the photo below, the end closest to the camera is free of water while the other end has water trapped. Not totally sure, but I assume that is good.

Oh and be prepared to get wax EVERYWHERE!

For our needs, we wanted the waterlilies to last two nights, so we did not have to replace our 8 minute waterlily with another for the second event. Here is what the lilies looked like at midnight on day three! Not bad at all! As you can see on the right that the 6 minute waterlily did okay, but not as open and stunning as the others.We figured we could reduce some of the browning by fussing less with the extraneous wax.

day four- getting oogly. Definitely 3 days max!

Final Round: Humans are Slaves to the Waterlily

This event has taught me that, when you figure it out, don’t change ANYTHING. We ordered enough lilies for slightly less than the best case scenario. We needed 90-110 waterlilies and ordered 220 to account for the duds and have a few left over to change out any particularly frazzled lilies for night 2 of our event. The 80 degree worked so well, I wondered what would happen if we increased the temperature. Afterall, a Texas spring is in the 90s, not the 80s. I wondered if we got the temperature up to 90, if we would have more success with the buds that did not open. Long story short, that was a bad idea. The humans and the lilies sweated it out and we ended up with a lot of stressed out flowers and a greater fail rate than even round 2 had produced. Luckily, we set up the waterlily arrivals in two shipments to optimize the lilies preferred timeline. The second delivery we shifted back to the tried and true method with great results. We ended up still having to substitute some lilies on night two of our event with peonies.

(sigh)

Waterlilies, we appreciate your tenacity. Please know we are your friends.

In summary, here is our recipe for getting great waterlily cut flowers in our cool climate:

1. Order about double the waterlilies that you will need. Texas Waterlilies was incredible to work with.
2. Get waterlilies in  80 degree water bath as soon as you can. Indoors or if sunny and cool, under a plastic row cover or greenhouse .
3. Cut stems underwater and remove floating bits.
4. Use cups, or some other device to anchor the stems under water. The curved stems will want to curve up sometimes with the exposed end out of water. Ensure most of the stem stays moist.
5. Cover bath with plastic and let rest until the following morning.
6. The following morning, add warm water early (we did about 7am)  to get the water temperature back up to 80. We kept water temps between 80 and 85 and air temps between 70 and 80.
7. Between 10 and 12, all the waterlilies that you will get will probably be open. We’ve had some luck opening lilies that are almost all the way open by transferring them to a new fresh warm water bath, with recut stems.
8. Move waterlilies from water to a cup or class so that petals can dry out of the water. Keep stems in water- recut stems
9. Prepare a hot plate and dropper. Keep a stash of droppers in a glass of hot water on the hot plate. The droppers get jammed and it’s faster to grab a new one than it is to unclog the dropper.
10. With a dropper and melted wax, apply wax to the inside of the flower just under the very first little petals. Move outward and as wax dries, apply more to create thick pools. Tilt flower as needed to get wax in between the very bottom petals.
11. We found that 8 minutes was optimal to get lilies to stay full and open the longest.
12. Take care not to remove wax, touch the petals, or generally fuss with anything that is not the base of the petal. The petals bruise easily. Once dry, place back into water bath or keep in glasses for transport.

* We did not use floral solution after Round 2. We seemed to be getting the same effects without it but more experimentation would be useful here.

If you have some other experiences with waterlilies, we would LOVE to hear about them.