Samples

These photos were taken the day we showed 2 samples to a bride whose wedding is coming up. She is getting married in the wonderful Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park in Bethesda and we are making very brightly colored arrangements for her. I am really looking forward to the day we set up the room with these pieces, a wonderful chuppah and rented palms.

Holton Graduation

Here are some photos from Holton's graduation this year. Hal and I have been making the graduation bouquets for years now. This year marked a change from red roses in the bouquets to yellow. I made several sample bouquets - yellow roses, white daisy mums and a mixed bouquet of delphinium, daisies and yellow spray roses. The girls voted for the yellow rose bouquets pictured here. Every year a new group of junior moms decorate the bridge leading to the amphitheater where graduation takes place. Each group has it's own ideas and thoughts about how best to decorate the campus. This year the color palette was yellow, blue and white. They used large sunflowers which really stood out in the arrangements and expanded the number of decorations made. It was a beautiful day and the girls were happy with everything.

AIFD Symposium

This past week I attended the American Institute of Floral Designers symposium in Boston. The event lasts for almost 7 days and included educational programs, workshops and meetings for the members. I went to almost every program offered and learned about the latest floral trends, the use of small magnets in floral design, the look of Christmas 2010 and the part flowers take in funerals in many cultures. Additionally there were programs by British, French, German and Canadian floral designers. On Thursday I took a workshop with Gregor Lersch, a German floral artist. He makes woven wire structures and uses wire wrapped water tubes to attach the flowers. During the 6 hour session we copied 2 of his pieces so we could learn the techniques of his wire work. These are the 2 pieces that I made. It was great fun to learn such an unusual technique.

Mary Ann's wedding

Last Saturday Mary Ann and Joey got married. Their ceremony was at St. Raphael's in Potomac and the reception at home. Her bouquet was a replica of the one we made for Rheaghan last month and that pink palette was used throughout the the centerpieces and other arrangements for the house. We used Cezanne and Pink Akito roses, pale pink and raspberry hydrangeas from my garden and some beautiful pink cymbidium orchids.

Spring at Nora's

Two photos of the window box in Nora's garden room. The first shot is of the very early spring installation. We used pink and green dogwood branches, moss balls, and wire forms for a look of the season just arriving. The next photo shows the second spring arrangement. For this one we used orchid plants and greens with a diagonal fence detail in the back of the flowers to get a very lush full greenhouse look. Stay tuned for full on summer at Nora's arriving in July.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg event

Last Tuesday evening, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was given the Eleanor award by the Women's National Democratic Club at Dupont Circle. The event became a family affair. We did the flowers, my niece's string quartet provided the music for the cocktail hour, my sister-in-law helped organize the event and most of the family in town attended. We made a bright spring-y arrangement using blue delphinium, pink and white lilies, orange and pink roses and yellow solidago for the foyer and a pair of columnar pieces with delphinium and hosta leaves for another space.

Last photos from the April 24 wedding

These are the last photos from the Georgetown wedding last week. The first photo is of the room at Halycon House. The receptions are held in the artist studio below the house and this concrete room was transformed by color and light.

Wedding on April 24

Here are a few more photos from our wedding last week at Halycon House. The first photo is of an arrangement of callas within a vase for the sushi table, the second is of the bridesmaids bouquets that we made from Ballet roses with wax flowers and the last is of the pink gerbers in small 2x2 inch vases that we put on the cafe tables.

Today's bouquet

Hal and I did the flowers for a wedding today at Halycon House in Georgetown. It is a beautiful house built in the early 1800s by Benj. Stoddart, the first Secretary of the Navy and then owned by Mark Twain's nephew. This is a picture of the bouquet we made for Rheagan, today's beautiful bride. We used Cezanne, Vendela and Sweet Akito roses, pale callas and some wax flower.

Potomac Floral Open House

My floral wholesaler has an open house every year. Flower growers and supply vendors show off their latest products and there is always a great speaker. There is also a floral competition. This year the theme was an arrangement for a seated Mother's Day luncheon. I made a piece that is pretty different from the ones I usually make and I was pretty happy with the results. No win, but just having to get something together is well worth the effort.

Landon party

This is a photo of arrangements on the worktable that I made for a dinner party at Landon. We always try to use some unusual materials and when I saw the yellow grevillia I just had to have it.
I like everything about this plant from the bloom to the greens. We used it with peach roses, grey brunia and a cream cabbage.

Christmas at Alice's

My friend Alice has the most amazing house and it becomes even more incredible at Christmas. She has at least 3 or 4 Christmas trees and many other wonderful decorations. This year I made some low arrangments for her dinner tables and remade the dried hydrangea arrangement in the living room. I am hoping to get more photos of the rest of her decor this week.

Blair House tour

Hal and I were thrilled yesterday to have a tour of Blair House. Yael Belkind, the lovely assistant manager, was nice enough to take some time and lead us through all of the rooms that had been decorated by the various magazines. The creative work was great and my mind was spinning as I tried to look carefully at all of the details that were so clever and beautifully done. We took a replacement arrangement for the one we made last week and it will be used tonight for a reception. And today, Martha Stewart's show features the rooms that she decorated at Blair House. Try to watch and maybe she will show this room with our arrangement!

Brooke's baby shower

Last Saturday I did the flowers for a baby shower for our friend Brooke. She and her sister Whitney are both due within weeks of each of each other, Whitney with baby #3. I have known this family for a long time. Hal and I did the flowers for Whitney's wedding and for the christening of her eldest child and I attended Brooke's wedding in Marthas Vineyard last year. It is always fun to work with them. For this event I filled a wire baby carriage and glass squares with pale blue delphinium, Esperance and Sweet Akito roses, pink tulips and Yoko Ono green button mums.

Christmas at Nora's

Hal and I decorated Restaurant Nora's garden room for Christmas. We used her own amaryllis flowers and added our wire plant forms filled with pinecones, moss balls and other material. We created a swag for the window box with dried cedar, boxwood, christmas balls and pinecones. It is always a great experience to create an arrangement for this beautiful restaurant. Now we are thinking about springtime and hydrangeas.

Blair House arrangment

Today we had the very great pleasure of making an arrangement for a reception at the Blair House. Blair House is actually a group of 4 houses purchased by the government for use first by the Trumans when the White House was being renovated in the late 1940s and then as a guest house for visiting dignitaries. This holiday season, 7 magazines were invited to decorate Blair House. Our good friend Ann was helping with the decorations and mentioned our names when one of the designers was looking for a large flower arrangement for the Jackson Map Room sponsored by Mother Earth News. He wanted a fairly tight arrangement with a southern vibe using only green and white. We used Green Tea and Akito roses, white lilies, white anemones, green hypericum berries, green hanging amaranthus and small green hydrangeas with magnolia and gardenia leaves, cedar branches and boxwood. I wove a grid of whale rib leaves to hide the foam we used in the glass vase. The designer for the room was David Derbyshire from New York. There is article in today's Washington Post about the decorations at Blair House and you can see a photo of our piece in Blair House at the website: www.magazines.com - search for the Mother Earth News decorations at Blair House. And more news on this project: on Monday Hal and I will have a tour of Blair House to see the decor and will bring down a replacement arrangement. Apparently they loved the original piece and have hauled it from room to room for the many events they had this past week....

Landon Greens Sale

Today I gave a holiday floral design talk at the Landon Greens Sale. This sale has been going on for years and the parents at the school give their all to put on a lovely day. They are wonderful floral designers themselves and it was very nice to be invited to speak. I made 6 arrangements. 3 of them were my usual style and 3 were a bit more playful and trendy. The arrangements in the first photo were made with a dome of dark red carnations with hypericum berries stuck with a pearl headed pins. They were the big hit of the day. The ladies who attended all seemed to be very knowledgable about flowers and well versed in the basics of design. They asked good questions and we had a lot of fun. After the talk, the arrangements were put on sale and apparently they sold quickly.

Thanksgiving

On the worktable this week are some arrangements I made for a friend for her Thanksgiving table. She had two large glass cornucopias and I filled them with baby artichokes, lady apples, baby pineapples, hypericum berries, dried wheat, mums, grevillia, roses in several colors and purple carnations. They were bright and appealing and just right for her table.

Helen's party

Last night our friend Helen had a party for her college friends. She has a wonderful house full of the most interesting stuff including a wonderful table made from reclaimed silvery grey barn wood. She was with me at the floral wholesaler last week and we found these pretty stencilled vases. She bought two of the rectangular ones and I filled them with beautiful white tulips.

Landon VIP party

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to do a couple of arrangements for a VIP dinner at Landon. The dining room at the farmhouse is a beautiful mocha color. To compliment that color I used silvery dusty miller, two colors of pink roses, pale yellow roses, brown Charlie Brown cymbidium orchids, blue grape hyacinth and some orange/bronze mums. I loved this combination.

Roses and old tins

I love old tins. I collect them and use them occasionally for arrangements, but unfortunately I have few clients who share my enthusiasm. Luckily my sister-in-law likes them as well so when I wanted to make an arrangement for her last week I used one of my favorites. Now this one is a reproduction, but with enough wear and tear, it will soon look like the real old thing. I filled it at first with pale pink parrot tulips, pink ranuculus and white roses. Later that day I found some wonderful fuschia peonies at Trader Joe's at a fab price and put them in. She was happy.

Fall meeting

Yesterday I made some arrangements for the Landon board meeting in their new meeting room in the renovated gym building. The building is fantastic and the room was beautiful. The arrangements included a vibrant orange and yellow bicolored rose, tan spider mums and grey dusty miller with a little seeded eucalyptus. In the larger coffee table pieces I added some orange berried ilex branches.
I love the grey and orange combination.

Stone Ridge tea

Today there was a tea at Stone Ridge during which the girls and their moms came together to choose graduation gowns. They asked for a pink and white palette and I made two arrangements in vintage silver containers, part of my larger collection. I used Eos pink roses, Eskimo white roses, Rebecca alstromeria, white dendrobium orchids and variaged pittosporum.

Landon Homecoming

Landon homecoming took place last weekend. We made a large amount of arrangements for lunches, dinners and barbeques. We used a palette of brown roses, rover mums, red and gold mums and other fall flowers to make a wide variety of pieces.

Halloween

Last week I made a Halloween tablescape in the farmhouse at Landon. The elements included a white resin pumpkin with black ribbons with a black crow perched on top, a tarnished silver coffeepot filled with a feather bouquet, some black and white gourds and white mini pumpkins and some lovely dried purple hydrangeas and a purple kale plant. Black tulle sprinkled with glitters circles was used for the runner. I found some wonderful mercury glass luminaries printed with black designs that added more sparkle. It was great fun to do this - a bit goth, but I always tell them that I will try something unusual every time! If you want to see the detail of this arrangement, click on the photo so it will enlarge on your screen.