Florets - Floral Quote by Ngoc Minh Ngo

"A room is never at its best without flowers. Flowers show that a home is cared for and truly lived in. While furniture can remain the same for years, flowers speak to the present moment. And yet they are a talisman, a reminder of the world beyond our doors, of growth and change, and the passage of time. They are fleeting pleasures."

~ Ngoc Minh Ngo ~

[Ngoc Minh Ngo - New York based photographer, landscape designer and author of Bringing Nature Home.] 

[Quote: from Bringing Nature Home by Ngoc Minh Ngo.]

[Flowers: Five chartreuse Chrysanthemums.]

[Foliage: Soft Ruscus ( Danae racemosa) and Steel Grass (Xanthorrhoea jonsonii)]

[Vase: Terracotta jar from Turkey.]

[Vintage: Three brown glass apothecary jars with stoppers from Sweden.]

[Other props: French linen sheet, green piece of cotton fabric and painted wooden board.]
[Styling and photography: © Ingrid Henningsson for Of Spring and Summer.]

Have a Lovely Floral Sunday!

xoxo Ingrid

Ingrid's Floral Tips #3

This is the third in a series of blog posts called Ingrid's Floral Tips. 

This time it's about the very basics of cleaning vases, what tools to use and how to condition flowers.

# 1. Always make sure you use a clean vase. Any bacteria will shorten the life of the flowers. Give the vase a good scrub with warm soapy water and a brush. For a vase with a narrow neck you will need a bottle brush. Finish off with a a thorough rinse making sure there is no soapy residue left. 

# 2. Always use clean and sharp cutting tools, a pair of floral scissors will be sufficient for most flowers. Have a container with water ready for the flowers.

# 3. For woody stems you might need something a little stronger - like a pair of snippers or secateurs.

# 4. Most flowers you buy will come wrapped up in paper or cellophane and the individual bunches will have elastic bands holding them together. Remove all wrapping and elastic bands as soon as you get home.   

# 5. Next you need to condition the flowers. Start off with removing all the lower leaves - any that you think will end up below the water level in the vase. Leaves submerged in water encourages bacterial growth. 

 # 6. After you removed the lower leaves - cut about 2-3 cm/1" off the bottom of each stem. The cut should be at an angle to allow maximum surface area to absorb water. Put the flowers as soon as possible in the container with water and leave the flowers in a cool, dark place preferably over night or at least a few hours before you arrange them. 

I hope you have enjoyed my flower tips and as this will be a regular series I hope you'll come back for more.

Have a Lovely Floral Day!

See you back here soon!

xo Ingrid

Vases, Vessels and Vintage # 1: Kähler Vase and Grass

This is the first in a new series called Vases, Vessels and Vintage. 
The arrangement is very simple but dramatic - using long slender grass - cut to length to be in proportion to the vase.

I have used a vase from the Danish company Kähler - they are made of stoneware ceramics and are available in many different colours and dimensions.

This one is from the Omaggio line in black and violet. The line is designed by Ditte Reckweg and Jelena Schou Nordentoft - their vases has a modern shape and the irregular horizontal stripes are made with course brushstrokes.

It has a perfect shape with a not too wide neck - just wide enough to nicely hold a small bunch of flowers, or like here, grass in place.

The vintage that I have added are three tiny little blue glass ink bottles. The same but all a little bit different - they are only about 4 cm high. Very cute!

I hope you'll be enjoying my new series featuring vases and different kinds of containers both new and vintage - and how to combine them with flowers.

Have a good day and until next time - have some fun with flowers.

xoxo Ingrid

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