Ingredients:

20 stems Rosa ‘Wild Blue Yonder’ roses, grown by Westmont Park Roses

7 stems smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’), grown by Jello Mold Farm

10 stems Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota var. sativus ‘Black Knight’), grown by J. Foss Garden Flowers

7-inch tall x 7½-inch diameter McCoy jardiniere, 1940s era, with a raised design of vertical bands and flowers

From the Farmer
When to cut for the vase: Commercial rose growers like Westmont Park Roses have special procedures for harvesting their flowers and processing them with a hydrating solution before making florist deliveries. The home gardener who grows old English roses and David Austin garden roses isn’t faced with these storage and delivery demands. Get the most out of your garden roses by cutting them when temperatures are coolest on the day you plan to arrange them. I like to pick a mix of roses at different stages to create more interest: in bud; slightly open; two-thirds open and fully open. This technique reminds grower John Martin of a single, beautiful grandiflora cluster, “with five or six roses, each at a different blooming cycle.”