In this video, Tom Bowling AIFD PFCI shares an exciting centerpiece design for the autumn season using wholesale permanent botanical components from Pioneer Imports & Wholesale. 

Autumn is often marked by those sweeping color changes. In nature, the bleached colors of summer suddenly pop into those bright intense fall oranges and reds – a more intense and saturated palette. Even people who do not live in an area where the leaves change, may still want that look. Tom's arrangement uses these great autumn colors with a few surprising twists. 

Tom is building this arrangement in the Birch planter from Pioneer, which he has already prepared with floral foam and a collar of moss. He appreciates this rectangular arrangement because it stretches the material out and gives a lot of surface to work with. That extra surface will play a key role in this composition. 

As Tom takes time to point out, you might recognize some of the components as they are pulled through from summer and bleed into autumn, a transitional and flexible look.

The silk maidenhair fern is the first example, a permanent botanical element that really transcends seasons with ease. Tom places the silk fern on either end of the planter, laying them somewhat horizontally instead of inserting them so that the material sort of cascades over the edges. He pins each piece into place using leftover wire stem from a previous project – a smart way to reduce waste. 

Next, Tom moves on to the silk dusty miller. He notes that you may not normally think about this as an autumn product. Grey happens to be one of the colors that harmonizes well with just about any color palette. This silk dusty miller features that wonderful grey color that will work very well for this arrangement. 

While he works with the silk dusty miller, he carefully adjusts each piece. He describes this as one of the advantages of permanent botanicals – you can alter them easily. Just because they were made a certain way doesn't mean that you must use them that way. Don't be afraid to twist and pull, to deconstruct and reconstruct. Each piece can work exactly the way you want it. 

Now, when you think of autumn, there are certain iconic elements that customers are often looking for. Cattails are one of them. Tom points out that while cattails are more of a June and July thing in nature, they're more associated with the autumn season which is why he includes them in this composition. 

Tom uses this opportunity to discuss selling components individually – he likes these types of sales, because customers can take them home and enjoy them how they like while you don't have to factor in your own labor. Tom mentions the importance of valuing the knowledge that goes into different types of compositions, and how he can charge less labor for arrangements that he doesn't have to think about much and more for complex events like weddings. He puts these costs upfront so nothing is hidden, and so that customers can understand the value of his time and experience. 

As he talks about labor pricing, he places these artificial cattails in two groupings, one on either side of the planter. He makes these insertions at varying heights. 

Now he moves on to these fantastic large silk peonies in a vibrant autumn orange. He places these low on the front and back of either side of the planter. Next, he places artificial magnolia bush pieces – the berries add great variation to texture and shape. He continues working some silk foliage into the design to really build up that right side.

A silk dinnerplate dahlia in deep red is inserted deep into the composition, effortlessly providing cover for a portion of the foam mechanics while also creating visual interest through the planter. Small deep red silk flowers add coordinated balance to the other side. Next, Tom continues with more vibrant orange silk flowers, allowing some to stand tall while inserting others low. 

Artificial corn is another fun novelty for autumn arrangements. Tom notes that these seasonal novelties – the artificial corn, the silk cattails, the artificial miniature pumpkins – are items that customers are always looking out for. Pioneer's catalog offers endless wholesale novelty permanent botanical elements for every season.

Tom's next insertions add powerful contrast, gorgeous blue silk flowers. This color may not be ordinarily associated with fall, but just look at the impact it creates in this composition! 

As he places the blue silk flowers, he notices that a plateau is developing – a place where the eye just stops. Tom suggests that when faced with a situation like this, when you have multiples of the same component, you can prevent a plateau stopping by varying the height a little bit. Tom addresses this by extending a stem with a wood pick and floral tape, bringing that blue flower up even higher. Now you can see how the eye effectively steps through the composition instead of stopping. 

He continues adding the blue elements, tucking some deep into the design for balance. 

Tom loves the use of negative space here and mentions how important it is for this type of design work. He gives a quick explainer about the definition of negative space and positive space. He gives the example of a hand. The hand is positive space. 

When the hand is held with fingers together, the individual components get lost in the bulk of the form. Spreading the fingers creates negative space between each one. With fingers spread, each component becomes a point of visual interest. Compositions like this one become even more dynamic by introducing both positive and negative space. Each component gets the attention it deserves.

Tom rotates the finished composition so that you can see how each side is a little different, but still balanced. 

Are you excited to start designing for autumn? You can find the components used in this demonstration available through the Pioneer Imports & Wholesale catalog – autumn novelties, silk flowers, wholesale containers, and more. 

Shop the complete Vibrant Harvest Collection here.