Pot-e-fleur Or Flowering Pot

Pot-e-fleur is a composition of houseplants and cut flowers arranged in one container. The name comes from the French combination pot-et-fleur, which literally means "flower pot".

The advantages of this type of flower arrangement are obvious: firstly, it is the most durable arrangement; secondly, it is an instant flower arrangement in terms of the speed of its creation; and thirdly, it allows you to constantly experiment and create new options, guided only by the author's imagination and the season.

By carefully selecting your potted plants, you can have luxurious foliage at all times to act as a backdrop for several cut flowers. With careful care, potted plants can live safely for many years, so that the pot-e-fleur composition constantly pleases you with its appearance, you just need to regularly replace cut plants in it.

The choice of container for such a composition depends on the size and number of potted plants from which you want to create the composition. For a start, two or three of your indoor pets are fine. When choosing plants, it is necessary to proceed from the assumption that plants of different types, placed together, will feel better. If, moreover, these plants are unpretentious - very good.

We need one tall plant, you can take Fatshedera, Large Grevillea, Aspidistra, Philodendron, Sansevier, Ivy or Rhombic Roicissus. In addition, we need one creeping plant - chlorophytum, tradescantia, peperomia, or asparagus fern.

If you are going to use a plant with variegated leaves in the composition, then it is better to take a low-key plant with it. And, conversely, it is necessary to add a component with a picturesque color to the group of unassuming plants, for example, euonymus or arrowroot.

Having created a group of two or three plants, in the future it can be expanded if there is space in the container. For a harmonious proportion of the composition, the volume of flowers and leaves should be one and a half to two times the volume of the container in which they are located.

Depending on the size of the container you choose, you can place the selected plants in it either directly with the pots, or taking them out of the pots.

What can you take for the container? Various items: a large basket with a bottom lined with polyethylene; a wide metal basin or even a large saucepan. A small layer of gravel or pebbles should be placed on the bottom of the tank for drainage. On the drainage, we spread a thin layer of charcoal, well crushed (almost into dust!), Which can be found in garden centers. Charcoal is essential for the pleasant smell that will come from your composition. Add sterile humus on top of the charcoal, which is necessary for the good development of our plants.

At the far edge of the container, we place a vertical plant - strictly straight or slightly obliquely, if required by your conceived version of the composition. Then we place the remaining plants. Next, we determine the places for a small container (cup or vase), in which there will be a piece of damp sponge (or a needle holder-tattoo) for cut flowers. Usually such a container is located in the center of the composition, but you can also be guided by your own idea of ​​harmony. Now add a cut - gerberas, irises, orchids, rudbeckia or roses - depending on your desire and season. It is better to choose flowers of clear outlines for the composition of pot-e-fleur.

We group the flower stems according to their height, they should not protrude beyond the border of the composition outline indicated by our vertical potted plant. You can adjust the height of the group with humus if necessary.

From above, the ground can be decorated with flat pebbles or mosses.

The composition requires daily care: cut flowers must be changed when they wither, potted flowers must be fed and looked after as needed.

Pot-e-fleur compositions can also be of the ampel type, if you sit down you take a hanging container and pick up plants that will look aesthetically pleasing hanging.

Modern artificial flowers, for example, very high quality silk ones, look very natural and can become part of such a composition (as a substitute for cut flowers). When using artificial flowers, do not forget to respect the proportions of the composition. The composition will look more natural if you select artificial flowers according to the season.

Feel free to experiment and your home will always look festive and cozy thanks to the compositions of pot-e-fleur.