Full on fall

Lots of work today - Landon reunion and 2 parties at Holton. For Landon we made really fun arrangements - my favorite type - a nice combination of dahlias, peach, red and brown roses, kangaroo paws, hypericum berries and chocolate weigela foliage.

Dinner party

Same tablecloth as a few weeks ago, different arrangements. Fiesta and Okey Dokey roses, pink tinged yellow dahlias, bronze football mums, burgandy mums, orange berries and huck greens.

Osage oranges

Last week I went to the open house of my friend Rosie who grows beautiful topiaries of all types including standards of cotoneaster which were full of berries, bay laurel, rosemary, holly and many others. In addition, she designs wonderful pots for the plants that she has made in China. The pots come in great colors and are very appealing. She had her party in her adorable little house in Georgetown. The house was lovely and the garden was a treat. After the party I walked back to my car and found a park full of osage oranges. I zipped back to my car and grabbed a bag and collected about 30 of them. And was happy to use them in these arrangements I made for a party at Landon last week. I also used green spider mums, red celosia, privet berries, castor berries, sedum flowers, burgandy mums and Pink Finesse roses.

Ikebana

I have restarted my ikebana studies with Kyoko Petersen in Vienna, VA. Kyoko is a talented ikebana artist and I have a lot to learn from her. Each lesson is different, although we often repeat lessons. This past week we did an arrangement in the upright moribana fashion. The subtlety of ikebana is an interesting aspect for me - so much the opposite of the mass arrangements of which I am so fond. These are two pieces I made yesterday. The top photo includes monstera leaves and kiwi branches with lavender and green poms and some oak leaf hydrangea leaves. For the second piece I used Chesapeake viburnum leaves and the same mums.

Front desk

Every week I make an arrangement or bring a plant in for the front desk at Holton. It is a great exercise for me to try some new fun things. This week's piece was made from rolled leaves - a nice dark purple with a reddish edge. 4 of these grouped around 3 lavender roses. I made 3 of these groups and put them together in the vase. It has a very nice effect I think.

2 weddings

Photos from last weekends 2 weddings - one at the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo in MD and the other at the historic synagogue at 6th and I NW and then the Renaissance Hotel nearby. Both weddings had fall color palettes, one composed of orange tones and the other reds and burgandys and yellows.

Lots of fun working on these - the first photo is of the chuppah we made to match the the painted interior of the ballroom - I covered cardboard tubes with stucco wallpaper and painted some designs on them. The second photo is of the florals we attached to the chuppah at the second wedding - Circus roses and burgandy mums. The next photo of a birds eye view of one of the low arrangements for the Renaissance hotel and the last photo is of one of the bride bouquets - red callas and Gypsy Curiosa roses with yellow cymbidiums.

Outdoor party

A few photos from another event this past week. Beautiful fall colored arrangements made with orange Amazon roses, burgandy spray roses, grevillia greens, burgandy mums, japanese lanterns and monobretia berried branches.

This week's events

Busy this week, large events at both schools with some smaller events in between. White and brown were the theme of last night's party and the request was for all white arrangements - I made large buffet arrangements with starbursts of white dendrobium orchids, small table arrangements with roses, callas, spray roses and cymbidum orchids with a few sprays of dusty miller put in around the edges. The tiny cabaret table pieces consisted of 2 white cymbidums and dusty miller.

Early fall arrangements

Three early fall arrangements for a client. I am not quite ready for full on dark fall colors and like the play of yellows and rusts and the pop of lime green. I used mini sunflowers, orange celosia, millet, red tip grass, burgandy and yellow mums, uhule ferns and a great lime green photinia leaf.

New Parent dinner

These are some little arrangements I made last night for the New Parent dinner at Holton. I used beautiful Camel, Geraldine and Sahara roses, baby varigated euonymous, dusty miller and sedum from my yard, pink spray roses, pomegrantes, pitcher plants and peach hypericum berries. I love this type of arrangement - the form is fairly simple but the fun is in the play of color and texture.

Today's arrangements

Today was a busy day. I potted up a number of bird's nest ferns and added dried scabiosa pods and pitcher plants for small table arrangements. I also made a large buffet arrangement to go with the small arrangements by balancing a grapevine wreath on top of a large cylinder decorating it with pods, white roses, salal leaves, millet and grasses. The last piece today was a thank you arrangmement made from blue hydrangea, white phalenopsis orchids, white ranuculus and spotted dracenae leaves. I wove grasses from my yard into a basket inside the glass cube to hide the stems.

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.