eco-floral techniques Archives - Slow Flowers Podcast with Debra Prinzing

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 20

Sunday, May 19th, 2013

A Softer Side of Green

An unexpected combination, inspired by the pale ‘Supergreen’ hybrid tea roses given to me by the grower

This sweet detail shows the delicate features of the apricot verbascum and the varietgated Star of Bethlehem

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.

15 stems ‘Supergreen’ hybrid tea roses, grown by Peterkort Roses

9 stems Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum nutans), grown by Choice Bulb Farms

6 stems Verbascum ‘Caribbean Crush’, grown by Jello Mold Farm

Vase:

7½-inch tall x 7-inch diameter woven basket with a 6-inch tall x 6½ inch wide glass insert

Eco-technique

Vase in an instant: Any container can double as a flower vase as long as you can hide a watertight vessel inside of it. This simple, budget-conscious technique instantly expands your design choices. I frequently pick up glass vases for 50-cents to a few dollars at the thrift store, which means I always have extras on hand to tuck inside boxes, baskets, tins – and even leaky watering cans .

Posted in Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Landscape Design, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | No Comments »

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 15

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

A Floral Welcome

This wonderful pocket vase adorns my front door, containing curly willow, garden hellebores and pretty white summer snowflakes.

A fresh and inspiring way to adorn your front door: a floral vase filled with spring blooms!

Ingredients:

10 stems garden hellebores (Helleborus orientalis), grown by Jello Mold Farm

12 stems summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum), harvested from my garden

1 stem curly willow (Salix matsudana ‘Tortuosa’), harvested by Oregon Coastal Flowers

Vase:

9-inch tall x 6-inch wide, teardrop-shaped wall vase (4-inch diameter opening)

Design 101

Just add white: There are some floral designers who abide by the “rule of white,” which calls for adding white flowers to every design. Take a look at this arrangement and you’ll notice that a few white blooms go a long way. The bell-shaped snowflakes are smaller than the plum-colored hellebores, but they add a lot of cheer to the design. Especially when viewed from a distance, white flowers are impactful, making any arrangement young and fresh-looking.

Posted in Book reviews, floral design, Gardening, General, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | 2 Comments »

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 2

Sunday, January 13th, 2013

Winter’s Multi-Hued Palette

This is what you can harvest during the 2nd week of January!~ Pretty amazing!

Ingredients:

Harvested from Jean Zaputil’s Seattle garden:

7 stems Corsican hellebores (Helleborus argutifolius)

5 stems Japanese aucuba (Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’)

7 stems sweet box (Sarcococca confusa)

Harvested from Lorene Edwards Forkner’s Seattle garden:

3 stems oak leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

7 stems witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’)

3 lengths Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica ‘Aureoreticulata’)

Vase:

12-inch tall x 8½-inch diameter vintage cream urn (lent to me by Lorene – thanks!)

Eco-technique

Easy-to-use twine: Here’s a great idea I learned from Jennie Greene, a Portland designer and partner in the flower shop called Artis + Greene. To anchor a branch, stem or vine in place, use bind wire. Available from craft

stores and floral supply outlets, spools of the pliable, twine-wrapped wire come in tan or green (you’ll need wire cutters to work with this material). In this arrangement, I allowed the honeysuckle to drape down the side and

wrap around the foot of the vase, using a short length of bind wire to secure it. The tie disappears into the foliage but does the trick to keep things in place.

More pics:

Beautiful detail of the oak leaf hydrangea and Corsican hellebore foliage

A “vine-wrap” detail embellishes the foot of this vase.

NOTE: Each Sunday of this year, I will post my photographs, “recipe” and tip for that week’s floral arrangement, created for my new book, Slow Flowers. Enjoy the floral journey through 52 weeks of the year~

Posted in Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | 4 Comments »