Below is an article she wrote about our flowers. Check out these stunning arrangements and beautiful photographs. Make sure you subscribe to her blog, it's really a treat to see the creative projects she is working on.
~
A few weeks before our Thankful for Friends party, I was contacted by a representative at The Sun Valley Group. He wanted to collaborate on a blog post about local flowers and it was perfect timing with our event coming up.
The Sun Valley Group has flower farms all over California, including Arcata, Oxnard and Willow Creek. They aim to grow their flowers sustainably and are a great local flower option for West Coast residents. Their website has a place where you can find florist near you that carries their flowers. For Portland residents, their flowers are available at New Seasons. Look for the blue CA Grown sticker!
Their representative agreed to send me some local flowers for the party and I agreed to arrange them and photograph them for the blog. When he said he would send flowers, I expected a bouquet or two of flowers.
I was wrong.
Two days before the party, this box showed up! If it wasn’t labelled “The Sun Valley Group,” I would have told the deliverer that there must have been a mistake. The box was HUGE! I could fit my toddler inside,
maybe with a friend!
Inside the box, were TEN bunches of flowers! I really had my work cut out for me!
The types of flowers inside were:
Rose Hip: this red berry is a perfect addition to holiday bouquets, whether for fall or for Christmas. It adds a punch of color and festivity to any arrangement.
Ad Rem Tulips: this is a simple standard tulip with sherbert coloring that has a very gentle shape.
Bright Parrot Tulips: this tulip is a stand out and demands attention. With large two-toned petals that are ruffled in texture, this will be the star of the arrangement.
Telestar Iris‘: this iris is available year-round by Sun Valley and has a beautiful purple color and dramatic petals.
Curly Sue Tulip: this tulip has an amazing frayed texture and might be my favorite of the group.
Strong Gold Tulips: this yellow tulip is simple in shape and compliments many flowers well. I found it to work great with the Telestar Iris, the Bright Parrot Tulips and the Orange Princess Tulips.
Orange Princess Tulips: these little balls of fun remind me of a cross between a tulip and a small peony. This is a close tie for favorite with the Curly Sue.
Salal: these remind me of leaves from a rose bush only sturdier. They have a deep green color and a shiny finish. A clean and simple addition to any arrangement.
I am not a professional florist, but I want to prove even an amateur can arrange flowers for an event. I wanted to put together several DIY flower arranging methods for my readers, to take some of the intimidation and mystery out of flower arranging.
This first method I used is from Debra Prinzing’s book Slow Flowers. This is pretty much a no fail method and I am going to break it down for you step by step:
1. Start with branches or twigs to structure the arrangement. I used the Rose Hip since it has that woody quality.
2. Next, you add the foliage. I used the Salal here.
3. Then add in the flowers. I like to add one type of flower at a time, so I started with the Bright Parrot Tulip and finished it with the Strong Gold Tulip.
And you are done! You have a beautiful arrangement that you did yourself! It is that easy.
So easy, that I decided to continue and make mini versions of that arrangement for my guests to take home with them. I used the exact same process, I just cut the stems to fit the mason jars. Also, I added in a Telestar Iris so they would have a closed flower that would open at home for them (making the arrangement last a little longer).
Here is how they turned out!
For the arrangement at my entry way, I used a similar method, although I left out the Rose Hip. I wanted to keep this arrangement a little cleaner and with a tall, narrow vase like this one, you don’t have to worry so much about supporting the blooms as the vase does all of the work.
The completed arrangement turned out like this!
Some of the tulips needed a LOT of support as their stems were not very strong. This simple and modern arrangement is the perfect compliment to this problem and is so easy to create. I chose the prettiest blooms for this arrangement, since each of them get so much focus. I love the stripes of green that two of them have and that they get to be highlighted through this display.
Cut the stems at different lengths to give the flowers different heights. It’s okay to have them peeking out the top a bit, it only adds interest!
The last method I used was the bouquet method. I picked this up from the amazing flower vendors at the farmers market. They always create the most beautiful arrangements and I wanted to try to recreate their method at home.
You start with just a few blooms (that will ultimately be the center of your arrangement) and then build out from there. I used three types of tulips, the Ad Rem, Curly Sue and Orange Princess. I tried to arrange them so they they didn’t touch another of the same type.
Once you have put together the bouquet, you can drop them into a water filled vase and be done. If you want a tighter presentation, simply wrap them with some floral tape. If you have never used floral tape before, it gets sticky as it is stretched, so be sure to stretch it as you wrap.
Then, cover the floral tape with decorative ribbon or string. I used some jute twine that I had leftover from my Chalk Cloth Banner. Once the floral tape is covered, trim the bottom and drop it into a vase that is 1/4 filled with water.
The end result will look like this.
So there you have THREE methods for arranging flowers on your own at home. I hope this helps you out this holiday season. Have you ever tried to arrange flowers on your own? What are your favorite tips and tricks?
~
Thanks Yvonne and Dress This Nest!
And Happy Thanksgiving from the Sun Valley Floral Farm...and Flower Talk.
No comments:
Post a Comment