A Bunch for the Weekend - # 42 - Blue and White Hyacinths

Today on 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - I'm featuring some blue and white hyacinths in a zinc container.

Hyacinths are spectacular at the moment they are still going strong and a real pleasure to use as cut flowers.

You'll need:

- 9 stems of blue hyacinths

- 5 stems of white hyacinths

- a low wide container in a neutral colour - in this case I have used a zinc container

- a piece of ornate Victorian iron work

- a large round blue and white plate

- a vintage blanket in dark colours 

For conditioning the flowers - you'll also need:

- a pair of florists scissors

- a florist bucket filled with fresh water

Condition the flowers by removing any leaves that would end up below the water line in the vase. This is to reduce any growth of bacteria from deteriorating leaves. Also remove any broken or bruised leaves.

Cut the stems at an angle - this is to increase water absorption.  

Put in a clean container with fresh water and leave in a cool, dark place over night or at least for a few hours, to let the flowers absorb the maximum of water, before making the final arrangement.

You might have to re-cut the stems while making the final arrangement to suit the size of the vase or container and to get the right proportions.

These stems come from hyacinth bulbs that I grew myself in pots and I just cut the stems and left all the leaves with the bulbs. When the leaves has died down I will plant them in my garden. Hopefully they will come back next year and not be decimated by slugs and snails or dug up by squirrels. 

You need to cut the stems quite short - but long enough to stand above the edge of the container - so hold the flower against the side of the container and measure.

I have packed the 14 stems in quite tightly - that way they all support each other.

Arrange the stems in a pleasing pattern according to colour and size of the flower heads. 

Experiment with the colours you surround the arrangement with - greys and blues all look lovely with the blue and white flowers. 

I have also added a fun little detail by putting a strip of grey washi tape along the edge of the zinc tub - its very easy to remove from any surface when you don't want it any more.

You can also do this with a smaller vase or container if you don't want to use as many stems as I have done. You can't go wrong here!!

Have a Happy Floral Friday and Enjoy Your Weekend!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

[Styling and Photography © Ingrid Henningsson for Of Spring and Summer]

FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - A Profusion of Tulips!

The theme on FLOWERS this time is called 'A Profusion of Tulips!'

Sometimes it can be a bit scary to use a lot of colour - especially if you use a lot of it and mix it all up - like I have done here.

I decided to go for colour and not hold back! A mix of different coloured tulips - but mixed with plain green foliage. Here I have used Pistacia - that has small green leaves and two small date palm leaves.

I put the arrangement in a blue glass container - put that on a ceramic blue and white plate from Spain and underneath it all a very colourful Swedish rag rug.

Lets pretend its spring and go for colour all the way - absolutely no holding back!

Titti Malmberg - my Swedish based collaborator who I work alongside on FLOWERS - has also created a blog post over on her blog HWIT BLOGG - so please follow the link and go over and see what she has done. 

You can see all our FLOWERS posts Here. 

We also have a special board over on Pinterest with images from FLOWERS.

Have a Very Happy Floral Day!

I will see you later in the week.

~ xoxo ~ 

Ingrid 

[Styling and photography © Ingrid Henningsson for FLOWERS and Of Spring and Summer.]