Pushing back the greens a bit, I made room in the lower part of the arrangement for hits of the saturated blue of fragrant hyacinth and the lighter blue of the smaller grape hyacinth to reflect the tonal shifts in color of the sky and water in this idyllic scene.

WSJ: A Flower Arrangement Inspired by a Bonnard Painting

As my eyes adjusted, I realized that this seemingly solid carpet of green was actually a large, dense grouping of water hyacinth, throbbing with electric blue and crimson dragonflies, spindly mottled spiders and monstrous ants.

BBC: Taming the heart of the Peruvian Amazon