Maurice Wynne is the award-winning designer at Mad Flowers, which offers creative bouquets for all occasions. The business is in his blood. His grandmother sold flowers on Dublin’s Moore St, while he remembers helping out in his parents’ florist, Wynne’s Flowers in Drumcondra, from the age of six.

“Flowers have treated me well,” says Maurice, whose achievements include medals at Chelsea, Hampton Court and Bloom. “I’ve taught or demonstrated or worked in over 40 countries.”

Maurice went on to open Mad Flowers. Today, the business is part of the Keelings group – which, while most famous for its fruit, also grows blooms such as sunflowers and lilies. Based at St Margaret’s in north Co Dublin, Mad Flowers offers nationwide delivery of quality, fresh bouquets through both phone and online orders, with the guarantee that what you see in the photograph is what will be delivered. Indeed, all flowers are aqua packed to ensure stress-free transit and longevity, with the trademark Mad Flowers purple delivery box, packaging and card.

Special thanks to florist Angelika Ogrodzka- Stec for her help in creating the Easter looks for Irish Country Living. Call 1850-212121 or visit www.madflowers.com

Easter Parade

1 This simple spring arrangement for the Easter table is created with Irish-grown tulips, birch and pussy willow and can be easily replicated at home.

2 A heritage-style jug makes an attractive alternative to a traditional vase, but do not fill it to the top with water. Instead, fill it so that the feet of the tulips are in the water and top up daily.

3 To get the most out of your tulips, keep them in a cooler room, away from bright lights and radiators.

Down To The Meadow

1 Yellow flowers like roses are perfect for Easter, but the look is softened here with daisy-like camomile, sprigs of solidago, St John’s wort and greenery like ruskus and dracaena.

2 When putting together a more elaborate arrangement like this, have all your flowers and foliage laid out clearly on the table in separate bundles before you start so that you can work methodically.

3 Always strip the extra leaves off the bottom of your stems as once the arrangement is placed in a vase, any submerged leaves can cause bacteria in the water and damage your bouquet.

Mellow Yellow

1 This time, yellow roses are complemented with cheerful gerbera daisies and ranunculus with their crepe paper-like petals for a sunny spring look.

2 You can easily incorporate greenery from your own garden into this arrangement, but sprigs of eucalyptus and berries also work well.

3 For an extra design element, long strands of “flexi grass” can be bent into shapes to add an architectural feel to the arrangement.

Spiral or cheat

1 For floristry style flourish, you can assemble your arrangement using the spiral technique. Holding your base flower between your forefinger and your thumb, add each subsequent flower/piece of foliage at an angle so that the stems cross, rotating the bouquet gradually, to create a spiral effect (pictured). This technique helps give your bouquet a soft, dome-like look. Once you are happy with your bouquet, secure the flowers tightly and cut the ends of the stems straight across so that the arrangement will stand straight in the vase. You can find video demonstrations online on sites like YouTube of the spiralling technique if you need extra guidance.

2 If that sounds too daunting, however, simply take some sticky tape to create a grid across the top of your vase (as pictured). This allows you to arrange your flowers in a way that they will stay in position without becoming lopsided or falling out of place.