orange dahlias made the day

As you might have surmised, I love orange, so this wedding was right up my alley. The orange ball dahlias mixed very well with ranunculus, orchids, Bells of Ireland and blue thistle. Unconventional but beautiful! I'll have to post the professional images soon. I can't wait to see the bride with her bouquet of hydrangea, thistle, dahlias and orchids.

brights and whites

This week I created a fun bouquet with pincushion, ranunculus, freesia, dahlias, scabiosa pods, geranium foliage and leucodendron foliage. Love those ranunculus!

all local flowers

This arrangement was created for a tasting event at Spartan and Bows+Arrows introducing Farmhouse Delivery, a wonderful service that will deliver local meats, produce and other goodies in the Austin area.

Antique Haeger vase purchased at Uncommon Objects, aloe plant from Desert to Tropics, flowers from Arnosky and Waller Creek Farms and a friend's backyard, tomatoes and persimmons from local farms purchased at Central Market.

mother's day arrangements

Some yummy smelling arrangements that Pollen delivered for Mother's Day - top vase holds a king protea, orange pincushions, parrot tulips, purple hyacinth, ti leaves, curly willow, and very fragrant Soloman's Seal. Bottom vase holds a heliconia (cut stem smells like cucumber!), purple allium, parrot tulips, pincushion, ti leaves and willow. These were for some very avant garde moms.


And to my Mom - Happy Mother's Day, and your cards are on the way!

wildflowers

Ok, so not all of these are wild flowers, but some of them are - the two Indian Blankets in the little glass vase, and the unknown white puff balls that oozed milky sap. The others are from my mom's garden - red honeysuckle, parsley flowers, hosta and vitex foliage, cottage yarrow and the strangely-shaped yellow flower. All free, all lovely. I might have to start growing that honeysuckle to use in wedding flowers... Thanks Mom for letting me pilfer your blooms.

eggplant hyacinths

Here's one of the first arrangements to go out the door! Yay for echeveria, one of my favorite succulents. The arrangement also includes banksia, tulips, hyacinth, ti leaves and grevillia foliage.

poppy pods, peonies and comin' home

I did this arrangement for the entry table at a large party a while back, on a sweltering hot day. Peonies, banksia, poppy pods, cymbidium and dendrobium orchids, set on monstera leaves. There are more images from this tropical event on the Pollen website.

And on a different note, I'll be moving back to Austin next week. Woohoo!

small stump is branching out

How beautiful are these arrangements by Jill Pilotte at Small Stump? She's adding flowers to her already interesting offerings, working with Alethea - a friend and former workmate at Rose and Radish, to form Studio Choo. (Choo is their nickname for each other.) I can't wait to see more! I just wished I lived in San Francisco so I could be on the receiving end of the arrangement in the birch bark vase. Check Jill's blog for more great images.

green apples and jasmine

Apparently I can't make an arrangement without putting fruit or vegetables in it. I think it somehow completes the story of the flowers - shows their raison d'etre so to speak. Hydrangea with amaryllis, roses, parrot tulips, Granny Smith apples, seeded eucalyptus, acacia, and jasmine... these smelled awesome.

harvest inspired centerpiece

Kale, artichokes, figs on the branch and millet round out this centerpiece with Sumatra lilies, dahlias, snaps, double tulips, ti leaves and pittosporum.

kumquats and banana leaves in a bouquet

This fun bouquet was for a wedding show. It includes tulips, roses and dahlias, with ranunculus, begonia and kumquats, surrounded by coconut fiber and banana leaves. Boutonniere and centerpiece below.

tropical centerpieces

Mmm, lots of wilt-proof centerpieces for an outside summer soiree, created a few summers ago. Orchids, Song of India, celosia, kangaroo paw, lilies, pincushion protea, some even had pineapples and red bananas.

purple orchids and green viburnum

Here are a few more images from the archives, using huge stems of purple orchids, extra tall viburnum, green euphorbia, blue delphinium and tropical leaves. It's hard to tell how huge these arrangements are, but they are taller than I am.


Table arrangement with king protea, purple orchids, leucodendron foliage, pieris (andromeda), and dark purple ligularia leaves.

frilly purple tulips

My laptop is dying, so I've been frantically shuffling files onto K's computer. It's been interesting to sift through all the images I've taken over the years, some of which I didn't remember I had. So here's a caterer's booth I did the flowers for a long time ago, but I still love the elements - pineapples, bamboo, frilly tulips, pink mink protea, celosia, leucodendron foliage, brunia berries and fern curls.

a day at dahlia haven

I finally made it to Dahlia Haven, the local dahlia grower during their open hours! And boy am I glad I did. I got the gorgeous bouquet, above, for less than the retail cost of one stem in the US. Because they were picked fresh, the flowers lasted for a full 7 days, which is way longer than if I had bought them from a wholesaler. And I got to wander around the fields, ogling more varieties of dahlias (pronounced dale-yas here) than I knew existed. You can order tubers from Dahlia Haven (within NZ only), and pick up bouquets at the gate.


Below are some images taken by Linda, owner and grower at Dahlia Haven, of deadheading the plants, and a huge heart they made on the ground at Valentine's Day as a backdrop for photos. Hmm, seems like a perfect place for a wedding.

fresh holiday centerpieces

I created these arrangements a while back for a party at a Mexican restaurant, but I think they could work equally well as holiday centerpieces. I just love fresh fruit mixed with flowers. Components include roses, rhodedendron and calathea foliage, lemons, limes, star fruit, Green Goddess callas, and date palm branches. Crocodile embossed paper was put over the vases after placing the arrangements on the table.

agapanthus

I created a little tribute to all the things blooming in our yard right now - a single blossom of each thing in a vase on our kitchen window. Can you believe the list includes: agapanthus, dusty miller, lady's mantle, clematis, lamb's ear and red orchids? I never noticed before how pretty the single blooms on the agapanthus are (thanks mom!).

photographer: ron van dongen

I love the purity of color in these shots. Ron van Dongen's latest book, Bloom, is so soothing to flip through.




And here's a few dark, mysterious shots of the heavenly-scented peonies I bought for our house this week...