Ikebana

I am a sporadic student of ikebana - it is all dependent on my flower orders.  I always learn so much when I go and I think it is having a positive effect on my work.  It is a study for a lifetime and occasionally I get a glimpse of what it is all about.

Anyway, yesterday the practice was shoka shimputai.  3 different types of materials in a line, front to back with a couple of inches of clean stem showing above the rim of the vase.  I bought some wonderful arrowhead shaped anthirium leaves and had the yellow ranuculus on hand.  My teacher grows black pussy willow which I am trying to root so I can grow it myself. 

The large leaf is of course the star, but the pussy willow and the ranuculus are fine supporting players.

Woven twigs

Another experiment.  I was working with some birch twigs - I always have a lot on hand - my neighbors in back have a row of river birches that shed their branches constantly.  I was going to do a french weave on the inside of the vase and instead hooked the twigs onto the rim and had the longer sections fall outside.

I filled the inside with carnations and like how their fluffy soft look contrast with the spiky twigs.

Experiments

Today I am messing around.  I saw an incredible arrangement on Facebook and am shamelessly lifting from the design.  I made a wall of red twig dogwood sticks around the perimeter of the gold vase and then put a garland of flowers on top - I love this idea.  I used green cymbidium orchids, and green spider mums on the top with some seeded eucalyptus and philodendrum, aspedistra and ruskus leaves.

Luckily I have a stash of dogwoods at the house and have now chopped them all as low as I can to get the sticks I need.  I may have to head across the street to my in-laws to get to more.

CARE reception

Last week the people from CARE had a reception at the French Embassy.  They chose orange and yellow tablecloths and I used pink and coral flowers to make it all a bit spring like.  I used pink roses, green spider mums, pink and apricot carnations, pink and yellow alstromeria and yellow button mums with a touch of silver blue eucalyptus to tone it all done a bit.

Ikebana freestyle

Last week in ikebana class we did freestyle arrangements with wired narcissus leaves.  It was surprisingly easy to thread a fine wire up thru the entire length of the leaf and then bend it into nice curvy shapes.  In this piece the flowers stay below the top curved leaves and are not the real focal points.  I wanted to echo the curve of the container and the curve of the orange tulip stems.  The last part was the curved and folded aspidistra leaves on the left.

Event at the Canadian Embassy

I also did the flowers for an event at the Canadian Embassy yesterday.  I expanded on a small arrangement I made a few weeks ago - one that included pincushions, roses, tulips and some grass.  For the larger version I added in callas, flax leaves and several colors of roses and tulips.  I also made a tiny version for the coffee tables.

Luncheon flowers

Yesterday I did the flowers for a luncheon.  I have done many events in this home and I am always thinking about the decor and color palette of the interior.  It is fun to have these parameters and I think it creates an air of sophistication to have such an integrated look for an event. 

Wedding color ideas

I am working with a bride and groom whose wedding is in June.  We went to the wholesaler the other day and they picked out some flowers and colors they liked.  The groom had the good idea of my providing an early Valentine bouquet in the flowers the bride liked.  They are taking dance lessons so as a surprise from the groom, I brought the flowers over to the dance studio. 

For this piece I used bright blue delphinium, blue hydrangea, flame callas, orange roses, green hypericum, yellow mokara orchids and varigated pittosporum.

Tone on Tone Birthday

Loi's birthday is today.  He is the owner of Tone on Tone, an incredible European antique store in Bethesda.  His emphasis is on pieces from Sweden and the store has a moody tone. 

I took over an arrangement that was green and white with a large variety of flowers and greens.  I used green hydrangea, white roses, tulips, astrancia and ranuculus, grey dusty miller,  Green eryngeum, gardenia leaves, and hanging amaranthus.   And the element we both loved the most, Australian tree fern that adds some frothy spikiness. 

Birthday arrangement

Yesterday I delivered this arrangement.  I love the colors in this - my favorite lime green/

grey/burgandy color story with pink accents.  I used grey Dusty Miller, lime green hydrangeas, dark pink proteas, purplish black mini anthiriums, gren hypericum berries,  red spray roses,  tan Sahara roses, pussy willow and gardenia leaves that look like green patent leather. 

Reality floral design

Today I had a challenge.  I had to make 2 medium buffet arrangements, 2 centerpieces and 4 small cocktail pieces on a very slim budget and the client wanted something that would make a statement.
I bought 2 stems of large cymbidium orchids, 2 bunches of spider mums and 5 large varigated leaves.  I had on hand some small white mums and eucalyptus greens.

I used everything - I cut a varigated leaf in half down the stem and used it to line the centerpiece vases and filled the vase with mums and some individual cymbidiums.  For the buffet pieces I used two of the large leaves and 1/2 of the cymbidium stems.  The small pieces consisted of just one mum and one cymbidum.   I love to use masses of flowers but sometimes it is fun to see what I can do with only a few elements.

Glass flowers

This is a bouquet of glass flowers owned by a friend.  There is some history here but I have to admit I don't really remember it,  I am just so taken by the object itself.  What a great wedding bouquet for just the right bride.

Dinner Party

I love this table linen.  It was the perfect choice for a gloomy winter night and I wanted the colors in the arrangements to work well with the brightness of the cloth...I used some beautiful rust and peach colored roses, lime green leucadendrom, yellow alstromeria gardenia leaves, red hypericum berries and green pitt. 

Early spring....I hope

A little piece for the hope of an early spring.  Beautiful parrot tulips in cream and peach, peach and pink spray roses, orange pincushions and a wonderful varigated grass. 

Weekly arrangements

Every Monday I deliver arrangements to a couple of schools nearby.  It is a fun exercise, I have a lot of latitude in the design and I try to do something different each week.  These are two of the most recent.  The first is a piece with two monstera leaves and a cymbidium stalk in a wonderful curved vase.  The vase itself it so dramatic that it didn't need much to enhance its appearance.    The second piece has a wonderful piece of grapevine perched on the top of a vase with parrot tulips woven within the lateral roots. 

Holton weekly

Every week I make a little arrangement for the front desk at Holton.  I get to experiment and try new things.  But some weeks I just put together a simple little piece that lets one type of flower speak.  I love this collection of yellow and orange ranuculus in this simple pottery urn. 

Party centerpiece

I just happened on a photo of a piece I did this fall.  I love the colors in this arrangement.  The
palette is mostly based on the creamy pink proteas on either end. 

In addition to the proteas, I used Suez pink roses, grey brunia,  limey yellow spray roses, chamomile, white astrancia, tan scabiosa pods, seeded eucalyptus and varigated pitt.

Christmas party, early December

A few shots from a recent Christmas party.  This is an elaborate affair and one that takes a lot of planning and set up but is very rewarding when finished.   I generally do pieces for almost every room on the main level of the house and I try to do something different and unusual if possible.   The trick is to make a party of this size look warm and inviting and not corporate.

Dinner Party

Tonight I did some arrangements for a dinner party.  The house is very serene and calm with a cream and apricot palette and the flowers were to reflect that spirit.  I used cream hydrangeas,  tan spider mums, Vendela, Versilia and Cinnamon roses, pale yellow tulips, yellow hypericum, sword and baker fern and varigated pittosporum in an antiqued metal container.  For the entry piece I added some deeper color flowers and a little blue eucalyptus. 

Show with Danica

This weekend I went up to Rochester NY to participate in a show with my friend Danica.  She is a photographer with a studio in an old fruit canning factory overlooking the railroad tracks.

Last March we had some conversations about this show - I was thinking about how to combine weaving in my floral work and she was weaving images in her photography.

We picked a date and last weekend made it happen.  I recreated the woven dome and this time used orange mokara orchids to showcase.  The other photo shows a little woven midolino arch that sits between two white bubble vases from IKEA.  I put orange callas in that piece and loved the way they followed the arc.

Tonight's dinner party

Tonight I did a few arrangements for a little dinner party.  The house has a lovely soft palette of cream, apricot and sage and I followed that palette for the flowers.  I did however, inject a few drops of acid green in the centerpieces as I was working today just to see.  I loved that color story but decided to deliver a softer look.  I used Cumbria roses, white hydrangea, yellow celosia,  dark orange mums,  lambs ears foliage, eucalyptus berries and varigated pitt.  I left out the acid green spider mums!

Landon Reunion

A large buffet arrangement for Landon's reunion weekend. I had some pieces of birch bark and alternated them with a bark ribbon to create a tree trunk inside the glass riser.  I used ilex berry branches on the top and surrounded them with a wreath of white hydrangea, roses, kangaroo paws, mums and magnolia leaves.

Granger dinner

Some photos from the dinner at Granger House last week.  I used gold Combo and pink Suez roses with hypericum berries, grevillia foliage, green pittosporum, red photinia tips, gold kangaroo paws and red maple leaves.  I am using my vintage silver more and more - it is really what people seem to want these days.

Maya and Jon's wedding

Maya and Jon got married on 9/22.  This wedding was one of the most creative I have had the pleasure to working on.  I have been collecting vintage silver plate and sterling pieces for years but have had little use for them.  Maya and her mother came over and selected many pieces from the collection as well as other metal containers for the reception flowers. We collected 14 different pairs of candelabras as well.  Maya chose farm tables with no linens in different sizes.  On the small square tables we put a pair of candleholders and 2 bunches of herbs - lavender, rosemary and sage tied with a grey ribbon.  On the longer tables I made 2 arrangements in different silver containers.   I used blue veronica, Quicksand and Amnesia roses, lavender, pink and white astrancia and dusty miller foliage.
I spray painted goblets with blackboard paint and wrote the table numbers in chalk on them.  Mercury glass votives filled the tables as well.  We hung glass votive holders from the trees around the tent and laid oriental rugs to create a runner for the bride to walk on.  Lots of lovely details for this wedding.