Variegated pilea and lady's slipper orchid

I am attempting to grow this variegated pilea with pink foliage. I never have any luck with plants meant for bonsai so hopefully this works out! I like the way the plant is already growing, slightly arched on one side. I am also trying to revive a lady's slipper orchid I bought on sale at Merrifield. I love the shape of this orchid. They're great for terrariums, a unique flower to add for an arrangement or boutonniere.

New books for my collection

I wanted to share a couple of books I will be adding to my collection. First is The Flower Recipe Book by Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo of Studio Choo. This is a great and inspirational book for ideas on how to arrange seasonal flowers.



Ngoc Minh Ngo's book, Bringing Nature Home: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Nature is a gorgeous, beautifully illustrated tome. The book shows innovative ways to arrange flowers year round for both beginners and professionals alike.



From Bringing Nature Home: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Nature

Flowering quince

I love flowering quince. These branches are from Wollam Gardens. This patch of branches were unruly which made my heart skip a beat. I love when branches or even the way a stem grows is not perfect. It makes for an interesting arrangement. This is why I like freshly cut flowers and plants from outside versus a greenhouse. Plants tend to grow differently and grow in interesting ways when growing in their natural environments.

Flashback: My Wedding!

Picture taken circa 2006 by DCPG. This was probably the first time I actually put together bouquets and boutonnieres - for my wedding! I snagged orange and purple flowers from Norfolk Wholesale and clipped some flowers from my mom's garden the following morning, and arranged everything that morning before heading to the Pagoda Garden. My kind of wedding!

Experiment with larger container and reviving hydrangeas

Experimented with a larger container. I used a large glass terrarium so it has multiple uses. I picked up most of these flowers from Trader Joe's including the hydrangeas, spider gerbera, roses, and dark purple ranunculus. The lavender and white freesia as well as the seeded eucalyptus are from Merrifield Garden Center and the greenery is from Wegman's.





Unfortunately I forgot to prep the hydrangeas with alum so two of the hydrangea blooms were wilted in the morning.



Hydrangeas are fussy flowers and here is a way to revive wilted blooms. Boil water. While the water is boiling cut the stem at an angle (preferably with a knife). Once the water boils, pour into container and immediately put the stem in the water. Cover the hydrangea with a paper towel to protect from the steam. I let the stem soak for an hour. Before returning to the original container, I also soaked the blooms in cool water for a few seconds and dried the excess water. Above: This morning before leaving for work. Below: This evening after work.



Hydrangeas absorb a good amount of water so make sure you check your container as you may need to refill with water.

More plants

I went to Merrifield Garden Center again to look at plants. I wish I had a bigger yard so I can grow all these plants!

Double columbine.



Pieris. Love these for wedding bouquets.



Persimmon blossoms.

Fringed tulips and roses. Experiment with grass in container.

I picked up these fringed tulips and roses from Mayflowers to use in an arrangement.





Experimented with grass in a jar.

Just because it's Wednesday mix

I bought these pretty yellow roses with a slight green hue from Merrifield Garden Center.



I used the roses and freesia with this fun arrangement below. I bought the gerbera daisies, godetia, tulips, and limonium from Wegmans. I also put a large leaf inside the vase.

Color saturated mix

I'm glad I received this request. This person definitely wanted red roses which I normally don't select (unless it's a nice variety from Holland) but she said I could use anything else along with the roses. Keeping the bright, saturated colors of Indian saris in mind, I chose this color palette. Roses, tulips, ranunculus, spider gerbera, snapdragon, jatropha (coral plant).

More April birthdays

I seriously put this arrangement and card together at Whole Foods before work. I usually don't work with blue flowers so I thought using these blue irises would be fun for a change. Irises, tulips, alstroemeria.

Cherry blossoms

You know you're dedicated to a project when you almost fall into a ditch trying to cut cherry blossom branches! Experiment with branches including flowering quince and cherry blossom branches. I used cut hellebores from my garden as well as ranunculus, snapdragon, and a rose that looked like a peony. Added eucalyptus with pods later on. I am considering using that rose I found in place of peonies in my arrangements. They tend to be more hardy and last longer than peonies, but you still get the same look of a peony.

FRESHFARM Market at Dupont Circle

I checked out FRESHFARM Market at Dupont Circle. Loved the tulips from Anchor Nursery.



Going to use these tulips for an arrangement for an Indian prayer/ceremony this week.



Also stopped by the stand for Lynnvale Studios which is a cut flower farm located in Gainesville. The owner suggested this book for DIY weddings.

April birthdays

I love birthdays! This arrangement was for one of the project managers at work. Lisianthus, anemone, ranunculus, wax flower, alstroemeria, hellebores, bishops flower (false Queen Anne's lace).

Wegmans and flowers

I love Wegmans! They usually have a great selection of cut flowers.

Magnolia blossoms

If you saw an Asian girl on the side of the road this morning clipping magnolia blossoms, yes that was me. Ranunculus, hellebores, magnolia, freesia, snapdragon, rose.

Hellebores

My hellebores are in full bloom. I am going to cut some flowers for a few arrangements this week.

Farmers markets

Today I visited a couple of farmers markets. First stop Palisades Farmers Market in Northwest DC. Snagged some peach blossom branches from Kuhn Orchards.



Next I headed to Union Market and picked up some flowers along with this crocus.

Throwback Thursday

This picture was taken in May 1998. I remember being obsessed with stephanotis flowers that year and finally bought some to put in my hair for prom. I loved that $40 lace dress! I also made the shawl. I still have both the dress and shawl hanging in my closet somewhere.

Birch bark pots

I love these birch bark pots from http://www.save-on-crafts.com/

Free form arrangement

Free form arrangement using cut flowers from Trader Joe's including ranunculus, roses, and hyacinth. The freesia is from Merrifield Garden Center. I think I am not going to use regular hyacinth in my arrangements anymore unless the arrangement is going to be set outside. The fragrance is very heavy unlike the fresh scent of freesia. I might try muscari (grape hyacinth) next time.

Trader Joe's

I can always count on Traders Joe's for fresh, inexpensive flowers. I have even run into a few florists here who have said they buy some of their flowers from Trader Joe's because of the price! Can't go wrong with daffodils for $1.49!

Workshop at Mayflowers

I took one of the monthly workshops at Mayflowers and put together this arrangement. The owner, May, has been in the floral design business for 30 years. She has a lovely shop in Reston and carries beautiful flowers from Holland, Italy, and South America. It is a great place to find unique flowers for arrangements.