Ingredients:
12 stems fuchsia anemones (Anemone coronaria ‘Galilee Pink’), grown by Everyday Flowers
8 stems pearlbush (Exochorda racemosa), grown by J. Foss Garden Flowers
6 stems bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea cyanus), harvested from my garden
7 stems white tulips, grown by Alm Hill Gardens
Vase:
8-inch tall x 6-inch diameter round vase with 5-inch opening
Design 101
Color wheel lesson: The flowers and vase combination illustrate an analogous color palette. Analogous colors are adjacent to one another on the color wheel (see page 132). Fuchsia, purple and indigo are pleasing when viewed together because they each share varying quantities of the primary color blue. White floral accents offset the black centers of the anemones, adding a graphic punch to this composition.
SPRING | WEEK 8
STILL LIFE WITH FLOWERS
TWO BUNCHES OF MY FAVORITE SPRING FLOWERS are all that’s needed to fill this charming vintage vase. The pale mint pottery plays nicely with the ranunculus’s green foliage, stems and buds. And a bit of green peeks out from the lilac tips. The joyous shades of apricot, coral and pink in the mixed bunch of ranunculus put a smile on my face.
Even though this vase is relatively small, its 5 x 5-inch opening accommodated one of my smaller vintage flower frogs, which anchors the lilac stems. I cut them fairly short, leaving only 3-4 inches of stem, which ensures that the white clusters drape gracefully over the rim of the vase.
The lilacs are snugly arranged, yet there’s still plenty of space between their fragrant blossoms to accommodate the ranunculus. Grown from a tiny tuber, the ranunculus produces fern-like green foliage, fleshy stems and tightly packed round buds that open to reveal layer upon layer of soft, curved petals. Placed in a random pattern, with the stem lengths varied for interest, they convey the new, hopeful spirit of the season.
When photographing the arrangement, I played around with different display ideas. Here, a wooden wine crate doubles as a shadow box, while a green-stained Ikea planter (turned upside down) is the perfect pedestal. Together, they make an alluring stage for my floral still life.
Ingredients:
10 stems lilac (Syringa vulgaris), grown by Oregon Coastal Flowers
12 stems Ranunculus asiaticus, including ‘La Belle’ and ‘Super Green’ varieties, grown by Everyday Flowers
Vase:
5-inch tall x 5-inch wide x 3-inch deep vase (overall height is 5½ inches)
From the Farmer
Extending the vase life: For decades, it’s been the conventional wisdom of florists that woody shrubs, such as lilacs and hydrangeas, benefit from a second cut, a vertical slice up the center of the stem, to increase the surface area that can absorb water. But according to professors Lane Greer and John M. Dole, authors of Woody Cut Stems for Growers and Florists, a research-based reference, the practice “has never been proven to extend vase life.” The best thing you can do is to use clean, sharp pruners and refresh the vase water every day or so.
SPRING | WEEK 9
FIRST PEONIES OF THE SEASON
THE INTENSE RUBY-RED PALETTE IS SHARED by these ruffled peonies and my art glass vase. I love the interplay of the two textures, hard and soft in balance; so naturally, the other ingredients needed to feel lighter in color and texture. I chose two types of ornamental alliums – white and lavender – to join the peonies. Lady’s mantle, a spring perennial, contributed leaves that look like pleated petticoats (green ones, that is).
This is one of those arrangements that you can make by hand like a bridal bouquet. Once all of the flower stems are in place, the entire bouquet can go right into a vase, forming a softly shaped dome.
I began grouping the peonies in my left hand, holding them gently between my thumb and forefinger. I made adjustments with my right hand, pulling out individual stems to create an overall rounded bouquet. Next, I added the purple alliums, inserting them in the gaps between the peonies until their stems also rested in my left hand. That way, each flower can be appreciated individually rather than as one mass of color.
Similarly, I threaded the white alliums into the bouquet. Once I was happy with this overall form, I added a “collar” of green lady’s mantle foliage, which gives the bouquet its polish. Before placing the bouquet in my vase, I re-cut all the flower stems to a consistent length.
Ingredients:
10 stems red peonies, grown by Ojeda Farms
7 stems each ‘Purple Sensation’ and ‘Cowanii’ ornamental alliums, grown by Choice Bulb Farms
12 stems lady’s mantle foliage (Alchemilla mollis), harvested from my garden
Vase:
9-inch tall x 5-inch diameter hand-blown glass vase
Design 101
Create a collar: You can use flowers or foliage to ring the base of a bouquet or arrangement as a finishing detail. This technique is usually done as the bouquet’s last step. For this arrangement, I pre-cut the greenery and then added it beneath the peonies, slightly overlapping each stem as I worked around the circumference of the bouquet. Here, the lady’s mantle visually separates the dark red peonies from the wine-red vase.
SPRING | WEEK 10
A SOFTER SIDE OF GREEN
THE IMPETUS FOR THIS BOUQUET took place during a spring visit to Peterkort Roses in Portland, Oregon. I couldn’t take my eyes off their ‘Supergreen’ hybrid tea roses. A beautiful shade of pale chartreuse, with slightly ruffled petals, these uncommon roses drew me in and I knew I had to use them in a bouquet. Thankfully, Sandra and Norman, the sister-and-brother team who run the Peterkort family rose farm, sent me home with a luscious bunch to play with.
I gathered other soft, pale green botanicals to join the roses. The silvery end of the foliage spectrum includes lamb’s ears and Dusty Miller, velvet to the touch and both quite easy to grow. Fluffy and delicate, the green-and-white variegated Star of Bethlehem surprised me as much as those chartreuse roses. Are they flowers? Are they greenery? I like that it’s hard to tell.
I started the bouquet by arranging a layer of soft foliage, which acts as a natural “frog” for holding the other flower stems erect. Here, the Dusty Miller’s deeply-cut leaves drape nicely over the edge of the basket and the lamb’s ears are more upright. Once the foliage is in place, it’s time to add the other ingredients. I stripped all the leaves from the roses and varied their stem lengths for a more naturalistic placement. Finally, several apricot spires of Verbascum added height, their tawny flowers echoing the natural rattan of my basket.
Ingredients:
15 stems Dusty Miller foliage (Centaurea cineraria), grown by Charles Little & Co.
5 stems lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina), grown by Charles Little & Co.