spring floral design 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 .

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SLOW FLOWERS: Week 17

Sunday, April 28th, 2013

Jewel Tones

This indigo-blue vase is a favorite of mine. Love it with fucshia anemones, bachelor’s buttons and white tulips.

Ingredients:

12 stems fuchsia anemones (Anemone coronaria ‘Galilee Pink), grown by Everyday Flowers

8 stems pearl bush (Exochorda x macrantha), 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

Stunning detail shows those velvety black button-like centers of the anemones.

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. 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.

Posted in Creativity, floral design, Gardening, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | 1 Comment »

SLOW FLOWERS: Weeks 8 and 9

Sunday, March 3rd, 2013

Been busy here . . . in the midst of Flower & Garden Show season, so I missed last week’s bouquet. Let’s play catch up and here, I’ll feature Week 8 and Week 9:

“JUST ADD LIME”

Oh how I love this combination of everyday garden blooms, including daffodils, forsythia and euphorbia – with a few sprigs of variegated geranium for contrast.

The spring green color of new growth is indescribably beautiful.

Ingredients:

All ingredients were harvested from my Seattle garden:

5 stems donkey tail spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites)
3 stems Euphorbia characias
5 stems variegated rose mint scented geranium (Pelargonium Graveolens Group ‘Variegata’)
7 stems forsythia branches (Forsythia x intermedia)
7 stems daffodils (Narcissus sp.), unknown cultivars

Vase:

5¾-inch tall x 5-inch diameter glazed ceramic vase

From the Farmer

Working with euphorbia: Most plants in the spurge family produce a milky-white substance when cut. It can be irritating to the skin, so be sure to wear gloves when handling the plant. While harvesting, I place the stems in a bucket of water, separating them from any other cut ingredients. Then I bring them into my kitchen where I dunk the tip of each euphorbia stem into a bowl filled with boiling water from the teakettle. This seals the stems. Some experts recommend searing the tips in a stove top flame, but that has proven too messy for my liking.

“HEADY HYACINTH”

A simple length of linen twine gathers these garden hyacinths. They practically arrange themselves!

Ingredients:

8 stems hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis), grown by Alm Hill Gardens

Vase:

7-inch tall x 7-inch square glass cube

Detail of the gathered bouquet

Seasonal Choices

About those long stems: The typical garden hyacinth blooms on a relatively short stem – maybe 4-5 inches at the most. This limits the way hyacinths can be used in floral arrangements. According to Gretchen Hoyt, the way to stretch those stems is to trick them into wanting more light. “The longer you can deny them light, the more they stretch,” she explains. At the commercial flower farm, this process begins in dark coolers where bulbs are pre-chilled. When they are transferred to the greenhouse, the hyacinth crates are placed (in the shadows) beneath tables where tulips grow. If Gretchen wants to elongate those stems even further, “I’ll throw newspaper over them,” she says. Leaving bulbs on the stems is optional, but some designers do so to give the arrangement a rustic appearance.

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