Spent three hours trying to get a new floral foam to hold heavy stems

Caleb Hill · 2026-03-24T11:50:05.554314+00:00

It was for a big wedding arch in Chicago last month. I finally figured out you need to soak the foam, then wrap the base in chicken wire before adding the flowers. Anyone have a better method for securing heavy hydrangeas?

william4074mo ago

Toss that soggy mess and try zip ties through the chicken wire like @barbaraschmidt mentioned, but make it a game. See how many ties you can snap before you give up and just wrap the whole arch like it owes you money. Honestly, hydrangeas are just dramatic flowers who want to be the center of attention. You soak that foam right, wrap it tight, and still a stem will flop sideways just to spite you.

4

the_sean5mo ago

Barbaraschmidt's thicker foam plus zip ties through the chicken wire.

3

barbaraschmidt5mo ago

Chicken wire is a solid fix. Have you tried using a thicker foam block and cutting it to fit the arch shape first?

2