Archive for the ‘Flower Arranging’ Category
I think trees should pull their own weight in the garden, don’t you?
I mean, it’s all well and good to be tall and green, providing all shorts of cooling shade and places for the bugs and birds. But if you can do tricks, like make berries and flowers to brighten things up a bit, you’re a really special tree, yes?
That’s why I like the Winter King Hawthorn. Many people have never heard of these trees. In fact, two seasons out of the year, in particular, the Fed Ex and UPS drivers, the electric company meter reader and whoever else wanders down our long driveway ask me what kind of trees these are. That’s because in those two seasons, the trees are putting on a show to grab your attention.
They are Winter King Hawthorns.
In the spring, the trees are covered in clusters of white flowers. In the fall, red berries hang on for weeks after the leaves have dropped, looking like tiny Christmas ornaments. They hang there until the birds devour them. This year, it was the Evening Grosbeaks that cleaned off the trees–and made my day!
I had never heard of the Winter King Hawthorn before these trees arrived in my life. Six years ago I was a novice gardener and was hard-pressed to tell you if a tree was an oak or maple. But an enterprising and charming nurseryman convinced me that I needed not one, not two, but TWENTY of these trees, since they only grow to about 20’ to 35’ in height. He showed me a very unimpressive specimen in the nursery but dragged out books filled with pictures of flowering and berried trees to convince me to pull out my checkbook.
The first couple of years they after they were planted I wondered if they would even survive in the not very hospitable environment next to the driveway—hard clay soil, competing trees, a hayfield and a not very careful equipment driver of the hay harvesting equipment were all hazards.
Then we had summers with drought. Since the hoses can’t possibly reach that far and I don’t have a water tank on my farm pickup truck, I have shuttled bucket after bucket after bucket of water up and down the driveway to keep them alive. (I did not go to the gym those days, but checked off both cardio AND weightlifting in my daily diary.)
Now, six years later, only two of the trees have gone to the great forest in the sky. Both were victims of Rudy, our tobacco chewing farmer who harvests the hay.
Now that I know the trees will, indeed, survive, I feel more comfortable clipping a few branches to bring indoors. Today’s arrangement includes a small Southern Magnolia branch that was hanging too low and always got caught in my mower.
As beautiful and useful as these trees are—creating flowers and yummy berries for the birds—they can be dangerous. They put the “thorn” in “Hawthorn.” These thorns are nearly 2” long and are as sharp as needles. Flower arranging with these babies is not a feat for the faint of heart.
But oh, what a sight. It’s truly a king of trees.
Oh by the way…I see that the first two choices in the survey (upper right hand corner of this page)–blaming me for shopping in Switzerland or my men for ineptitude in mowing–have been running neck and neck. Frankly, I’m shocked. The survey closes in a couple of days. I have not starved the men, but the little bit of ribbing has done them good. And, by the way, I was also in Switzerland on business, interviewing humanitarian aid workers from the World Health Organization. So there. It was for a good cause. If you want to change your vote (or vote again), you can. Don’t make me the villain here!
Robin
Some days it’s just tougher than others to transition from the garden back to work. Like today.
Today is a very bad transition day.
The Whining Part…
I had a great gardening weekend, but there are still about 20 things on my “to do” list that did not get accomplished. As a result, I had a fitful night’s sleep. Okay, maybe the raging case of poison ivy on my forearm that vaguely resembles what I imagine leprosy looks like also had something to do with not being able to sleep. But the point is that I didn’t sleep well, so I’m really in no shape to go to work. But my very mean and witchy boss (oh, that would be me!) made me show up anyway.
Then I had a mountain of data to organize and the data file wasn’t cooperating. I hate it when that happens. You know those people who are hooked on Sudoku? Well, if they had to deal with my data file issues, they wouldn’t be fiddling with flippin’ numbers in their free time. They’d be as far away from a computer and numbers as possible–like the far, far side of the garden.
And resting my diseased arm on the desk to mouse around that possessed data file is killing me.
But enough about my whiny little self. (Okay, not really.)
The Flower Show Part…
Last time I told you about how I overcame my flower fears. Several people confessed to similar flower issues and coping strategies. Linda grows orchids inside so she doesn’t have to cut her outdoor flowers. Elizabeth pots up tulips so she doesn’t have to cut the ones outside. Brenda goes flowerless and uses the old cat-will-eat-my-flowers-in-the-house excuse. Well, I thought I would show a little of what you’re missing if you don’t clip and bring in some of the floral bounty.
One of the kitchen arrangements right now is a profusion of tiny yellow roses from one of the two Monster Roses. No, that’s not really the name of the rose. I can’t even remember the name of this rose, but Monster Rose seems to suit.
I only love the Monster Roses in May, when they blooms like mad. They don’t have any scent at all, but the vision of all those yellow roses is a Technicolor dream. But since I have to hack at them eleven months out of the year with hedge clippers (and not gently), I didn’t feel guilty at all clipping off long branches to bring into the house.
As you can see, this Monster Rose bush hardly noticed the flowers were gone.
Although the tulips have now all faded, I managed to salvage a few last white ones to tuck into a small table arrangement with some bamboo sprouts.
Once the tulips and roses are dropping their petals, I’ll be bringing in some long branches from the Winter King Hawthorns that line our driveway. They are now in a profusion of white flowers.
There now, just thinking about the flowers has made me feel better. See what cutting flowers can do for you? Just like that it made my bad night’s sleep, disease-ravaged forearm and data nightmares disappeared. So get clipping!
Robin
I used to be afraid to cut the flowers in my garden to bring indoors. It was a classic case of flower fear.
Other people, I have heard, experience the same phenomenon. It is the fear that if you cut the flowers in your garden, it will take away from the outdoor beauty. Who wants a bald, flower-free garden, right?
For me, the flower fear ran so deep that I would buy flowers every week, even in the summer, to use in the kitchen, family room, bedroom and bathrooms rather than cut the ones right outside my back door.
But I want my own fabulous flowers in the house, darn it. And I also want my garden filled with an abundance of flowers. In short, I WANT IT ALL!
Why can’t I have it all? Martha Stewart has it all. Oprah has it all. Heck, Angelina Jolie has it all. Angelina even has Brad Pitt! Heck, if she can have Brad Pitt, why can’t I at least have indoor/outdoor flowers? Is that asking too much?
Last fall year I decided it face my flower fears.
I added my own little cutting beds so that I could give myself permission to invite some of them indoors. I stocked up on tulip bulbs. Red tulips, purple tulips, white tulips, pink tulips. Tulips, tulips, tulips. I think I must have been a bit single-minded the day I was stocking up on bulbs, because I came away with about six dozen tulip bulbs and very little of anything else.
If my selections lacked in imagination I can’t say that the execution was especially stellar either. I managed to get about half of the tulip bulbs planted in October before freezing rain and demanding clients drove me indoors. The unplanted tulip bulbs languished in a bucket in the garage. Every time I walked past the bucket to my car the little florist in my head would say, “You’re horrid! You’re killing the flowers. You’ll never have flowers in your house. You don’t deserve flowers in your house!”
The little florist in my head is mean. And sometimes she says bad words.
Finally, one warmish day in February I headed outside with the offending bucket of bulbs and dug them all in. I had no expectation that they would grow. After all, fall is the time to plant tulip bulbs, not February. But at least it shut that miserable little florist voice down for a while.
Amazing, but true, all of the tulip bulbs, including the February planted bulbs, grew and bloomed. And I’ve been cutting and cutting to keep the house tulip-filled for about a month now. I have another bunch of summer blooming flowers all planted and will be inviting them indoors as well.
I still don’t have Brad Pitt. And that miserable little florist in my head still nags at me about my arrangements. But I believe you can say I have recovered from my flower fears.
Robin
At the risk of flogging a dead horse (a hideous expression, don’t you think?)…
I want to make an appeal to those well-meaning but misguided folks who assemble the bouquets at our corner florist shops. And I especially appeal to the corporate creative department at FTD, which fuels and/or dictates much of the design aesthetics for these small business owners.
You know the people. They make things that look like this…
Or this…
Or even this…
In the name of God, please STOP!
What you are doing is an abomination. It is a blasphemy against the laws of nature and how God intended plants to grow. Have you ever visited a garden? If so, did you EVER see all of these plants lined up uniformly in a symmetrical orb with no stems, leaves or branches–resembling a basketball? Must you reduce Baby’s Breath and ferns to an afterthought? And why must containers be so very sweet? Do we really need flower arrangements that look like ice cream sundaes? Carnations colored into fluorescent hues of green or orange? Teddy bears hugging our tulips?
Mr. or Ms. Florist, can you please pick up a couple of design magazines and see what is au courant? It’s not this tightly packed, overly-colorful, cheap flower arrangement that are the equivalent of the super-tight permanent wave cranked out at smelly “beauty parlors” in small towns in our fair land.
We have a local florist that my husband, until recently, faithfully visited for my birthday, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day and other important occasions, including when he was in the Dog Haus. I dropped by recently because they had a sign advertising a good deal on tulips. Frankly, I can only conclude that these people do not actually LIKE flowers.
As I entered, I had to pass all manner of “arrangements” that would make the average weekend gardener convulse. It was like entering a flower torture chamber. They were packed, crammed, twisted and contorted into every manner of unnatural pose imaginable. When I finally made it to the bargain tulips, I could hardly breath.
“Let me out of here. You’re hurting me!”
To be sure, the FTD folks seemed to have hired at least one younger-than-80 creative person. They now offer minimalist arrangements by Todd Oldham and Vera Wang. But, really. $110 for an orchid that I can buy at Lowe’s for $20? There is a way to go before you’re there, FTD.
Let me recommend a book for your education and edification. It’s called Zen Flowers, by Brenda Berkley and Anulka Kitamura. It is filled with examples of airy, simple and tasteful arrangements that honor the original plants and do not involve torture devices or demeaning containers.
And guess what? The author actually owns–a FLOWER SHOP! And she makes a living selling designs such as this…
And imagine a home with flower that look like this…
I know that Ikebana may not be for everyone. And I acknowledge the commenter from my previous post on the topic who said that there are some flower-buyers who expect quantity rather than quality. But I also believe that it is incumbent on florists to help educate their customers on nature and taste. Do you reall WANT to torture all those tulips? Pervert those petunias? Wrestle those roses?
But I am hoping that someday we can banish mounds of ice cream sundae flower arrangements or flowers in yellow smiley face cups. I hope that as gardeners we can help educate our friends and families that a simple arrangement in a humble, but natural container, is more aesthetically pleasing than a tacky ceramic container made in China. I would prefer some spring daffodils in a recyclable aluminum can to the overly-wrought arrangements that contort and distort nature.
Please, oh please. Let’s make the pledge now. No more hideous and unnatural flower arrangements…
(Okay, I acknowledge that I seem to be a wee bit cranky right now. Mi dispiace. I seem to be time-stressed, which is completely contrary to my continuous improvement efforts to simplify and slow down. That said, in the way of excuses, I have a lot of travel ahead in April–my prime gardening month. I am heading to Austin for the garden bloggers Spring Fling after which I head directly to San Francisco for some focus groups. I land home for barely a week before heading off to Geneva, Switzerland, for more focus groups. I know…sounds great until you contemplate my client’s coach-fare policy and the fact that my garden needs some serious remedial work in April. Oh, quit it with your tiny little violins…I’m serious here. This time.)
Robin
After viewing the exuberant displays of flowers, plants, containers and hardscaping…
…the visitors to the Philadelphia Flower Show were practically foaming at the mouth in the vendor area. I have never seen so many women carrying around bunches of pussy willow in my whole life. They looked like some sort of bizarre religious procession with the waiving branches and the ecstatic looks on their faces.
Well, since I have actually planted my very own pussy willow bush, I shopped for other things. Here are some of Robin’s Fabulous Flower Show Finds.
A couple of days ago I talked about how I am just mad for Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. Don’t call the Ikebana police on me, because I’m quite sure I have broken some Ikebana rules, but I bought an Ikebana vase and gave it a try here at home.The trick with this nifty little vase is a built-in “frog” at the bottom and an enclosed water well. I don’t have the source for you, but you can search for Ikebana supplies on the Internet and find many similar vessels for your own Ikebana creations.
I have always found that my plants are much happier (ergo I am a better gardener) when they are in clay pots. Unfortunately, it is exceedingly difficult to find a stylish clay pot. They are all so mass-produced looking and utilitarian. So I was just tickled pink to discover Goff Creek Pottery. These pots are about 10″ high and cost $40 each. Goff Creek has many larger pots, including huge and decorative urns that go for up to $800. Sadly, there was only so much my husband was willing to carry for the sake of my gardening habits.
I also met a wonderfully charming couple with a tiny little booth of pottery vases. Paula L. Brown-Steedly, at Virginia Clay, is the potter and seems to specialize in organic-looking, hand-built clay vessels, although she also had a number of thrown and thrown and manipulated vessels. I purchased these two vases, about 11″ high each, at about $85 and $70. They look fabulous with a simple arrangement on my farmhouse table.
Do you love African Violets like I do? Well, let me introduce you to the Violet Gallery. They only had about 20 of their violets on display and for sale. But their catalog is 16 pages of mouse type with HUNDREDS of different types of violets. I was just crazy about the variegated varieties, but managed to restrain myself and only brought home four at $4.95 each. In the catalog, the cost is $6 each. Specimens are extremely robust. Highly recommended!
I love fashion. Unfortunately, fashion and gardening don’t mix so very well. I mostly wear jeans or shorts, a tank top and sneakers. I love the look of those British knee-high boots, but frankly, there is just no need for them here. So I get my jollies with gardening gloves and justify the purchases by telling myself how useful they are.
But don’t you hate gloves? I would much rather dig my fingers into the dirt and rip out those wretched weeds with my own bare fingernails. Unfortunately, it’s not quite right to traipse into a focus group room or conference room with raggedy and dirty nails. So I have (mostly) learned to use gloves. I prefer gloves that don’t feel like gloves–I want them snug, but not tight. Thin, but not flimsy. I don’t like rubbery barriers. I want to be able to FEEL what I’m doing. (Ahem.)
Well anyway. I adore these Atlas Gloves. They are, indeed, soft and supple. I can hardly wait to give them a test drive. At $7 they are a bargain. I may have to order in bulk.
BTW, you may notice that these are a size small. Since I am 5′10, I do not have small hands. So if you cannot find these gloves locally and decide to order them, know that they run VERY LARGE.
Isn’t shopping so much fun?!?!
Robin
One of the advantages of signing up for the early morning tour of the Philadelphia Flower Show…
…aside from being able to see the displays without having to jostle, stand on tippy toe and elbow my way through the hoards—was that the guide was a seasoned flower show volunteer. Our guide was a charming older fellow who seemed to know everyone on the floor and lots of stories that won’t necessarily make the official news. Here are some stories you won’t read about in the newspapers about the Philadelphia Flower Show…some his and some from my own observations.
One exhibitor at this year’s show, a nursery, didn’t win any of the judges’ prizes but did win the several of the popular vote awards among visitors, the People’s Choice Awards determined by written votes each day. The display was a music instrument repair shop, in keeping with the show’s New Orleans and jazz theme. A wildly popular fountain of repurposed brass instruments was a focal point, as was an old upright piano remade into a waterfall and a tuba fountain.
I was amused to hear the booth representative explain not once, not twice, but three times how no instruments were harmed in the making of the display—they were all old and useless anyway! It seems that some people had been complaining about how the nursery had destroyed instruments for the purpose of the display.
Our guide told us about one exhibitor in the nursery class, the J. Franklin Styer Nurseries Inc, a Philadelphia-area nursery that was recently purchased by Urban Outfitters as part of its quest to launch its outdoor chain Terrain. (If you haven’t heard about it, the goal of Terrain is to “to transform the local garden center into an experience that celebrates the beauty and abundance of nature while offering an eclectic mix of garden-inspired products tailored for the contemporary customer.” Watch out Smith & Hawken.) The purchase occurred just three weeks before the Philadelphia Flower Show, where the nursery has for years had a major display area. The nursery’s designer and flower show coordinator promptly quit, leaving the nursery—and Urban Outfitters—with just three weeks to fill a big hole that other companies spend months and months designing and planning.
Well, don’t underestimate Urban Outfitters and their desire for an untarnished reputation and a smashing 2008 launch for Terrain. Within a week they had hired a Hollywood set designer and came up with a stunning display that won Best of Show for the nursery division. Sadly, my photos don’t to justice to the display, which included a stunning Bougainvillea with vines as thick as my arm winding up on to a porch. It was breathtaking.
Our guide is also a member of the Philadelphia Men’s Garden Club. He said the club was formed because years ago there were only ladies clubs and the fellows felt outnumbered and misunderstood. With their own club, he said, “We can break all the rules and drink beer while putting up our display.”
Their display, in the by-invitation division, was a men’s private club in a swampy setting, complete with alligators swimming in the waters around the clubhouse and a porch sign that warns, “Beware! Poker Players and Loose Women.” I gave them high marks for creating a display appropriate to the group.
Our charming guide pointed out one nursery display that was heavy on salvaged pine trees. It seems that a while back the nursery owner broke his hip, lost is wife and his business. It was a very bad year. The Philadelphia Men’s Garden Club swung into action, passed the hat and collected some money to help with the doctor bills. They found a surgeon to do the hip replacement for free and even pitched in to complete some of the unfinished nursery work. Now, our guide proudly pointed out, the nursery owner was back in business and once again exhibiting at the flower show—an example of the camaraderie and support among the show folks.
The Best in Show award for the best florist went to the entrant who decided to suspend their display from the ceiling—the first time for such a “daring display.” Thousands and thousands of individual flowers in florist vials were arranged into a kind of chandelier cum mobile. Painted footprints on the floor indicated where visitors could stand to hear music under one of the three suspended floral arrangements.
Although he was an entertaining guide, his enthusiasm for the show is better than his hearing because he seemed to think the music was on when only the electric lights were buzzing. “Isn’t that fabulous?!? It’s beautiful!!! Listen!” I had to smile, but a young woman in our tour group kept yelling in his ear, “It’s the LIGHTS! It’s the LIGHTS!” Aren’t people funny?
Here are a few more photos from the show…
Okay, that’s it for the Philadelphia Flower Show stories except for a few choice finds that I found in the vendor area. Coming up!
Robin
There are flower arrangements and then there are flower arrangements.
Personally, I detest the overly-colorful and tightly packed arrangements that I associate with almost anything you can order through FTD. I have finally trained my husband to get a bunch of fresh flowers from the florist–or even the grocer–that I can arrange at home in my own lovely containers. But Ikebana is another matter altogether. Take a look at these displays from the Philadelphia Flower Show and tell me what you think. They are competitive examples of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging.
You won’t find abundant and exuberant displays of bountiful blossoms. This is all about line and form. Restraint even, from what I can tell. And the container is as important as the arrangements, which often rely on twigs or other materials to make a line to draw the eye and create the form. Frankly, I find the arrangements artful and, well, refreshing.
Those exceptionally sophisticated and informed folks up in Philadelphia even have a local chapter of Ikebana International. I saw some of the participants spending about 45 minutes on their arrangements, which had already been judged, trying to improve them, gently twisting a twig here, adjusting a flower height there. This is flower arranging for the exceptionally patient.
I spent a good deal of time examining these arrangements before heading off to the vendor section to pick up a couple of “vessels” for my garden flowers. I adore the fact that you don’t have to have dozens and dozens of blossoms to make a beautiful arrangement and that you can use other materials–even dead stuff–to an artistic end. Right now, I have a good deal of dead-looking stuff to use in arrangements. While I doubt that I’ll ever spend more than 10 minutes on an arrangement of flowers, I do believe I have picked up a trick or two from the Ikebana aficionados.
With that said, here’s a little Ikebana walking tour from the Philadelphia Flower Show for you…
I’m fascinated. What do you think? Is Ikebana for you?
Robin
