Not all floral arrangements have to be a riotous explosion of colour.

In fact, one of my favourite arrangements of late was a simple monochromatic (single-colour) floral arrangement I designed for the April 2014 issue of Canadian Living.

Here's how I did it: 

 Every floral arrangement begins with a vessel. Last summer, I spraypainted a few canning jars in Krylon's metallic gold, and they've become my go-to vases for virtually any style or arrangement—they're just so versatile! Fill the jar with water, and any floral food that came with your fresh-cut flowers. Photography by Ryan Brook.

Alstroemeria have really risen in popularity in the last few years, and I'm among the recently converted. They're quite a humble flower, really, with the exception of the quite distinctive tiger-striping of the petals. What's more, they come in a huge range of colours, and are usually readily available at your grocery store's floral department. I used about a dozen heads of alstroemeria for this particular arrangement. Photography by Ryan Brook.

Roses can be pricey, but that's the beauty of a monochromatic arrangement: an inexpensive flower like alstroemeria can be used in bulk, with just two colour-coordinated rose blooms making scene-stealing cameo appearances. These grocery-store roses had the most gorgeously coloured petals: soft peach on the interior, with a dazzling fuchsia exterior. Photography by Ryan Brook.

Starting with the two rose stems, build the arrangement in your hand, adding alstroemeria around the central roses. Aim for an overall dome-shape for the arrangement, with the lower-most ring of alstroemeria concealing the lip of the canning jar under its fringe. (This is purely aesthetic, as I find this step just softens the transition from vessel to florals.) Using floral snips, trim stems with a diagonal cut to about double the height of the jar. Change the water every few days, and you should be able to enjoy your fresh-cut arrangement for another week! Photography by Ryan Brook.