Debra Prinzing

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SLOW FLOWERS: Week 45

Sunday, November 10th, 2013

VINTAGE PATINA

Oh how I love the way hydrangeas respond to cool weather as fall settles in!

Oh how I love the way hydrangeas respond to cool weather as fall settles in!

Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) are like little sparklers emerging from the hydrangea mound.

Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) are like little sparklers emerging from the hydrangea mound.

Ingredients:

12 stems mop-head hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), harvested from my garden (note, the lace-cap hydrangeas don’t have the same visual impact as the mop-head form)
20 stems Dusty Miller (Centaurea cineraria), grown by Charles Little & Co.
25 stems sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), grown by Jello Mold Farm
 
Vase:
7-inch tall x 11-inch diameter cast-iron urn. Intended as a planter, it converts to a watertight vase when lined with a plastic bowl.
 
 
This was the very first arrangement I designed in early November 2011 when I dreamed up the bouquet-a-week-for-a-year project.

This was the very first arrangement I designed in early November 2011 when I dreamed up the bouquet-a-week-for-a-year project.

Eco-technique

Preserve your bouquet: There’s a bonus to using these late-season flowers in an arrangement. As the vase water slowly evaporates, the mop-head hydrangeas, Dusty Miller foliage and sea oats will air-dry without changing shape or color.
 
I created the arrangement you see here during the first week of November and by the following May it looked just about the same. By then, I needed the urn for another project, so I disassembled the preserved ingredients and tossed them in the compost bin. Not every cut flower will air-dry as nicely as this trio did, but with a little experimentation you’ll soon notice that some long-lasting ingredients can be preserved for months.
 

A BONUS BOUQUET: Using some of the same elements, here’s a bouquet I made this week, November 2013. It employs the same weathered urn, hydrangeas, a lacy form of Dusty Miller, rose hips, feverfew sprays and a few Cafe au Lait dahlias. This is a favorite style to which I continue returning. Love it!

An autumn arrangement glows on a table by my front door.

An autumn arrangement glows on a table by my front door.