Creative with Flowers - # 27 - Pink Tulips

This week on 'Creative with Flowers' - I'm featuring a bunch of bright pink double tulips. A great flower for this time of year especially if you don't keep them too warm.

This series of blog posts - called 'Creative with Flowers' - are about using flowers in new and creative ways. It could be about how the flowers are combined - maybe in a little bit of an unusual way. It might be the choice of vase - maybe not a vase at all but a container that could be anything from jugs, bottles, jars, tins or teapots - vintage or new it doesn't matter. 

As always my arrangements will be quick and easy - and there will always be lots and lots of colour!

The two main colours in the colour scheme are pink and blue with a bit of grey mixed in. There are also a mixture of vintage and new. Contemporary with just a small selection of old antiques. 

Tulips will last longer if you are able to put them somewhere cool at night and during the day in the house keep them away from radiators, fires, electronics that generate heat and out of the sun.

The small cups that I'm using as candle holders for some tea-lights are by the Swedish potter Lotta Zerrander. Whenever I'm in Sweden I always visit her workshop in the south of Sweden in an area called Österlen. In conjunction to her home and workshop she also has a shop and a beautiful gallery. It's all converted from an old Swedish farm that is lovely and very charming.

Not only can you use her little cups as candle holders but also as cups for tea or coffee or at this time of year for hot glögg. I also often use them as vases for small bunches of flowers.

Tulips continue to grow after they are cut, so to allow for the change in height you can cut the stems a bit shorter than you would normally do. Then just enjoy the growth and seeing the flowers opening up is a pleasure to watch.

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Thursday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer'. I will be back later in the week with more floral delights. I'll see you then.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right and an email will come right into your inbox.

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A Bunch for the Weekend - # 87 - White Pinks, Statice and Eucalyptus

This week I'm featuring white Pinks, Statice and Eucalyptus - a lovely combination of white and purple flowers with the addition grey-green foliage.

It's always a pleasure and lots of fun to buy a bunch of flowers for the weekend and this series of blog posts, called 'A Bunch for the Weekend, will show you how you can make quick and easy flower arrangements for your home. 

Buy the flowers where it's convenient and easy for you whether that is from a flower stall, farmers' market, the supermarket or a florist. 

Always try to buy seasonal flowers - they will be a lot cheaper.

Make sure you condition the flowers as soon as you get home. Remove any foliage that will end up below the waterline in the vase. Trim the ends of the stems at an angle and put in fresh water as soon as possible.

The bright, white Pinks are almost luminous especially in contrast with the darker purple colour of the Statice.

I would very much here like to give Cel Robertson the credit she deserves for creating this combination of flowers. She has planted and grown them on her organic flower farm in Norfolk called Forever Green Flower Company. She then combines the flowers into bouquets and sells them at farmers' markets in London and elsewhere.

All I did was to buy two bunches from her at our local farmers' market and combine them into one big bouquet. 

I also made a smaller side bouquet with the white Pinks on their own in a vintage silver plated cream jug.

I like the shape and simplicity of these scissors - but oh, my dear are they uncomfortable - if you use them a lot. They don't stay sharp however often you sharpen them and the metal  dig into your hands. I would never recommend them to be used for any frequent work with flowers. I'm just featuring them here as a prop.

I apologise for being negative and critical about a very humble pair of scissors - I'm usually not negative and critical about things I feature on my blog because I like to show things I like. 

This on the other hand is one of my favourite brands - Marimekko. I have things that I bought in Sweden as a teenager and I'm still using them - shirts, bags, cushion covers and tablecloths. Quite amazing considering that it's quite a few years ago. 

Surrounding the flowers and combining them with a few black and white props has worked well - fabrics, scissors, bowl, basket and a few pieces of jewelry.

I have used a large vintage pickling jar as a vase. These clear glass, very plain straight sided pickling jars has become one of my favourite containers to use for flowers. They just seem to go with most blooms and don't take anything away from the flowers.

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral weekend!

You might wonder where I've been - I had to take a short unscheduled break last week for personal reasons - but all is well and I'm now back to my usual blogging.

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back on Sunday with another floral quote by someone passionate about flowers. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]
[All flowers and foliage from Forever Green Flower Company.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

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A Bunch for the Weekend - # 86 - Pink Snowberries and Pink Chrysanthemums

Autumn can be full of quite bright colours like these pink and white snowberries combined with strong pink chrysanthemums.

It's always a pleasure and lots of fun to buy a bunch of flowers for the weekend and this series of blog posts, called 'A Bunch for the Weekend, will show you how you can make quick and easy flower arrangements for your home. 

Buy the flowers where it's convenient and easy for you whether that is from a flower stall, farmers' market, the supermarket or a florist. 

Always try to buy seasonal flowers - they will be a lot cheaper.

Make sure you condition the flowers as soon as you get home. Remove any foliage that will end up below the waterline in the vase. Trim the ends of the stems at an angle and put in fresh water as soon as possible.

The botanical name for Snowberries is Symphoricarpos and it's a shrub with distinctive ornamental berries that appears in the late summer, early autumn. 

When any of the berries go brown - remove them by gently holding the individual berry and twist it off it's little branch. Don't pull and don't squeeze. If you do the berry will pop and make a mess. 

Look out for the gorgeous pink and white one but the all white one is also beautiful and very fresh looking. 

They last for about 7- 14 days - so good value for money.

Combine them - as I have done here, with chrysanthemums or go even more dramatic with dahlias or Amaryllis.

If the branches has thick stems you might need a pair of secateurs. Trim the stem at an angles as usual and then cut an extra vertical cut up the stem. This is to increase the surface area for the plant to take up water.  

Snowberries are only one of many autumn berries to enjoy at this time of year. Many works perfectly as cut flowers. Most of them are easy to condition, lasts for a long time and what could be better than enjoying all the gorgeous seasonal colours that is on offer.  

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Friday and a great weekend!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back On Sunday with another floral quote by someone passionate about flowers. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Creative with Flowers - # 19 - Two Pink Chrysanthemums

Let me set the scene. You are just home from a long day of being on your feet - kick off your shoes, grab a cup of herbal tea and a good book. Sit down in a favourite chair - made even more comfortable with a cushion and a warm blanket - and NOW you can also enjoy the flowers you made earlier!

This series of blog posts - called 'Creative with Flowers' - are about using flowers in creative ways. It could be about how the flowers are combined - maybe in a little bit of an unusual way. It might be the choice of vase - maybe not a vase at all but a container that could be anything from jugs, bottles, jars, tins or teapots - vintage or new it doesn't matter. 

As usual my arrangements will be quick and easy - and there will always be lots and lots of colour!

What could be simpler than two different pink chrysanthemums in an old apothecary jar. The jar is a little chipped and the lid is missing but that has never stopped me making use of it. 

I've used two pink colours - but twice as many stems of the darker colour with just a few of the lighter pink to lift the whole colour scheme.

The chair is a Lloyd Loom chair from the 1930's - in it's original colour! The cushion is made from a vintage patchwork quilt. Both the cushion and the chair are almost perfectly matching the flowers.

The book is by Nessa Buonomo and is called Tables fleuries. Nessa is a florist and she writes the blog La Mariee aux Pieds Nus. This is her third book and if you are wondering - and yes, it's only so far published in french. She makes lovely flower arrangements - a little wild country style and very beautiful.

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer - I will be back on Friday with some more floral delights. Hope to see you then. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Floral Media - Video - Make Your Own Autumn Flower Arrangement

Here is a short little video from Martha Stewart's YouTube channel. It's her Senior Garden Editor, Todd Carr showing us how to make a quick and easy autumn flower arrangement.

He is using a bunch from the supermarket and transforms them into something a bit more special. The flowers he is using are a couple of different Chrysanthemums as well as some Golden Rod also called Solidago.

Todd uses a gold coloured vase that matches the colour of the flowers. He starts with the larger Chrysanthemums and then fills in with the smaller ones and the Golden Rod.

I hope you'll enjoy this short video! Have a fabulous and floral Monday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back later in the week with more floral delights.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

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A Bunch for the Weekend - # 83 - Late Summer Grass, Seed Pods, Dark Foliage and White Alstroemeria

This week on 'A Bunch for the Weekend' it's not just one bunch - but three! Well, they are to be displayed together to form a whole.

It's always a pleasure and lots of fun to buy a bunch of flowers for the weekend and this series of blog posts, called 'A Bunch for the Weekend, will show you how you can make quick and easy flower arrangements for your home. 

Buy the flowers where it's convenient and easy for you whether that is from a flower stall, farmers' market, the supermarket or a florist. 

Always try to buy seasonal flowers - they will be a lot cheaper.

Make sure you condition the flowers as soon as you get home. Remove any foliage that will end up below the waterline in the vase. Trim the ends of the stems at an angle and put in fresh water as soon as possible.

Late summer is almost here and a few different colours, textures and shapes are available to buy or if you are lucky to have grasses and flower seed heads growing in your garden - NOW is the time to use them as cut flowers.

All the plants I'm using here are from Forever Green Flower Company.

I have used very few colours and instead focused on different shapes and textures. The love-in-the-mist seed heads and the delicate grass, Panicum, gives varied textures and adds lightness and movement. 

The dark foliage, Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo', gives contrast and works as a background for the green. The white trumpet shaped Alstroemeria has a totally different shape and texture to all the other plants as well as adding freshness. 

The three little arrangements are linked by using clear glass containers as vases and as a base a marble table and an off-white linen table runner. 

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Friday and a great weekend!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back On Sunday with a floral quote by someone passionate about flowers. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

[All flowers, grass and seedheads are from Forever Green Flower Company.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

Supermarket Flowers in Jam Jars

A lot of different supermarkets sell bunches of flowers for a very reasonable price - but they often lack a bit of imagination. 

I think we can do better than this! Don't you think so too?

Start off by taking the bunch apart. Condition the flowers by stripping off any leaves that will end up below the water-line in the container. Trim the ends of the stems at an angle and put in fresh water as soon as possible.

Then separate the flowers and foliage by colour or type of foliage, so that you can see how many stems of each you have.

This bunch consisted mainly of pink roses, pink spray chrysanthemums, purple stock, purple trachelium and freesia. 

Nice colours and the flowers were fresh but I wanted to do something drastically different.

I wanted to use some recycled jam jars as my containers. They are quick and easy to make as they are small in size. As an added little extra I have tied a pretty ribbon around each jar.

I used all the flowers in the bunch and I didn't substitute with any other flowers or foliage. So choose carefully when you pick out the flowers in the supermarket.  

I made two jars using mainly pink flowers. They are similar but a little bit different. I used two different ribbons both are light grey in colour - a nice contrast to the pink. 

The third one has three different purple flowers. There I used a dark grey ribbon as a contrast to the purple.

You need to cut the stems quite short. Measure against the side of the jar. Be generous with the amount of flowers in each jar. You want it to look full and abundant not stingy in any way.

Little jam jars can be used for almost all occasions and for most rooms in the house. The added ribbons from Jane Means' collection, also make it all look a little bit more special.

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back on Friday with another 'FLOWERS by ingrid and titti'. The first FLOWERS, from Titti Malmberg and I, after a break over the summer. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

[Ribbons from Jane Means' ribbon collection.]

P. S. Did you know that you can subscribe to receive a notification via email whenever I have a new blog post. Just fill in your email address at the top of my blog on the right.

For more floral inspiration you can follow me on:

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson

DIY Flower Tips and Inspiration - # 16 - Pink Chrysanthemums and Stock with Cream Roses

At this time of year it's not easy to know where to go to get fresh cut flowers. There might be a few winter flowering branches and some foliage in the garden if you are lucky. Buying flowers from the florists can be quite expensive and anybody selling flowers at farmers' markets are taking a break because they don't have anything to sell at this time of year. I often buy from a local street flower seller, but he is also taking a well deserved break after the very busy holiday period and even my local florist is closed for the month of January.

Well, I've decided to do an experiment! In the next few weeks I will buy most or maybe even all of my flowers from the supermarkets. I have a few around where I live - Waitrose, Sainsbury, Tesco and Marks and Spencer - so I do have quite a good choice of stores to choose from.  

I first went to Marks and Spencer but I didn't like the look of the flowers they had. They all had a 'Best Before' date on their labels but a lot had pollen showing and bruised petals so I left without buying any and went to Tesco instead. There I bought two bunches of pink chrysanthemums and a mixed bunch of pink stock and cream roses.

As usual I conditioned the flowers as soon as I got home and left them in a cool place for a while. I wanted to show off the pink flowers against a fairly neutral background and picking up the colour of the roses I choose some cream coloured vases, a vintage bowl with pink flowers and some lace .

I also decided not to mix any of the flowers but to keep them separate in a way that showed off their individual beauty. 

I think many of us look down on buying flowers from the supermarkets of even worse the petrol stations - but choose carefully, look after them well and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how even a bunch from the supermarket can make a beautiful and long-lasting flower arrangement at a very reasonable price!   

Enjoy Your Flower Arranging and 

Have a Fabulous Floral Wednesday!

I'll see you again on Friday with another Bunch for the Weekend.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling and Photography: © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

You can also find me on:

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/ofspringsummer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofspringandsummer/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.henningsson