Debra Prinzing

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SLOW FLOWERS: Week 24

June 17th, 2013

A Certain Vintage

A Certain Vintage

Ruffly ‘Green Spice’ heuchera foliage pulls together the mocha-colored vintage vase and the deep burgundy sweet William flowers

detailIngredients:
25 stems heuchera foliage (Heuchera ‘Green Spice’), harvested from my garden
7 stems sweet William (Dianthus barbatus var. nigrescens ‘Sooty’), grown by J. Foss Garden Flowers
5 stems mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius), harvested from my garden
Vase:
6-inch tall 1940s vase with a 7-inch x 3-inch oval opening
Eco-technique
Just add foliage: Thanks to the eco-conscious designers I’ve met and interviewed, I am quite wary of using florist’s foam, a formaldehyde-based product, to stabilize arrangements. Designing around a base of foliage offers a greener way to keep flower stems upright in a vase. Choose leaves that are large, fluffy or textured. Then, insert your other floral ingredients through this vegetation. For example, in this bouquet I placed the heuchera leaves first; then I added the sweet William and mock orange stems. Everything stays just where I want it.

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