On Day 1 they are lovely, perhaps a bit stiff and self conscious, but no complaints. By Day 5 they are fully realized versions of themselves: florid, open, unkempt. Their colors have become muted, their petals wrinkled. Tulips are voluminous, ranunculus shimmer, hellebores display otherworldly pods at their centers….better and better until they are done.
Read MoreOccasionally, at the tail end of the Pacific Northwest winter, we get a string of gorgeous days. I’ve learned not to expect them - joy is fragile at this time of year, and it’s best not to get hopes up. Today I leashed my dog and stepped outside wrapped in woolens and insulated rain boots and blinked, blinked, blinked. There was sun, it was warm, I was not wet. I felt joy!
Read MoreThis week the first frost fell on local flower fields. A decisive end to dahlia season! This made me immediately nostalgic for summer, even though she’s just barely left. Looking through photos of the past summer I was struck right away by the vivid colors that have been featured in the studio all season long. Acid yellow, hot pink, chartreuse! Not the palette I think I’m drawn to and yet…
Read MoreThe best thing about cutting from the garden is that you are able to choose flowers and foliage that are in their ideal state. The perfect yellowing leaf. An exquisite fennel frond. A nasturtium vine that is half bulbous seed, half fragile flower. These elements are what set a garden arrangement apart from anything sold at a market, and they are divine.
Read MorePacific Northwest winters can be tough for me - the sky is low, the days are short, so much moisture… One bright spot is my ever-increasing collection of hellebores. I have dedicated one strip in our garden to these plants and named it ‘Hellebore Alley’. It is right next to the path that leads around our house, ensuring that I can see and enjoy these winter jewels daily, while we wait for the rest of the garden to heat up.
Read More‘I’m not really a rose person’ I used to say… then I qualified that to mean that I only really went for summer roses, fresh from the garden, dew on their petals. Not the uptight, no fun roses one encounters wrapped in cellophane. Well… this season I have opened my eyes and heart to roses of many stripes and I’m here to make a case for the winter rose.
Read MoreFortunate Orchard’s work with holiday botanicals kicks off early - the online holiday shop opens in mid November each year. I exalt in this launch of the season, but my personal approach to Christmas decor is much lazier. This is partly due to my heavy work load at the start of the holiday season, but I embrace the laze.
Read MoreI have abandoned hope of growing produce robust enough to feed my family and now I just grow pretty little fruit & veg to use in flower arrangements. Topping the list of lovelies is tomatoes. Nothing reads ‘abondanza’ in a maximalist floral situation like dripping vines laden with fruit.
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