A Bunch for the Weekend- # 112 - A Few Late Tulips

It's Friday and it's time for 'A Bunch for the Weekend' and why not grab some of those late tulips while you can!

Here is a little "statement" that I add - to briefly explain my thinking behind these particular posts:

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

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

Always try to buy seasonal flowers - they will last longer and 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."

How can you not love tulips - while I was growing up in Sweden all you could get was the simple single tulip in a few different colours.

Nowadays tulips seem to come in all kind of shapes and sizes; and in every colour of the rainbow as well as multicoloured.  

These late double tulips are also called Peony Tulips because when they open up halfway and fully they resemble a peony flower. 

I adore tulips and I'm very fond of multicoloured ones. This tulip has very interesting outer layers of petals. 

I often prefer these large tulips before they open up fully. It's a stage when you can very clearly see the adorable multi colored layers. These last three images are the same tulips but are taken a few days earlier. 

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

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

I'm looking forward to seeing you back here then.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Flowers: A bunch of late Tulips from my favourite farmers' market flower stall - Forever Green Flower Company - who comes to my part of London twice a month.]

[Vase/Container: A large clear glass pickling jar - bought at one of the many antique markets in London. The second container is a florist's zinc bucket - if you ever see any don't hesitate to buy them! ]

[Other props: Three shimmering mini vases, linen fabrics and a small Swedish rag rug - all from stylist's own prop collection.]

[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.

P. S. If you are looking for more floral inspiration you can go over and have a look at my Pinterest boards. I now have just over 12 400 followers and around 200 boards all relating to flowers, flower styling and flower arranging. There are boards on individual flowers and boards showing how to arrange flowers. Other boards show different ways of using vases and containers. Simply click on the link below and it will take you straight there.

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

Take 3 Flowers! - # 2 - Pink Tulips and Ranunculus with Eucalyptus Foliage

This is the second blog post in the series 'Take 3 Flowers' - where I will show you how to make easy but beautiful and stylish flower arrangements - just using three different flowers. Often one of the three will be some kind of foliage.

Using just three flowers will sometimes be a challenge - but it will also keep the cost down. Cut flowers can be expensive but foliage on the other hand tends to be cheep. You can use lots of it to help fill out the arrangement and to provide support and structure for the other flowers. 

I loved the contrast between the strong pink of the tulips and the Ranunculus; and the silver grey of the Eucalyptus leaves.

You'll need: 

- 9 stems of dark pink tulips

- 7 stems of dark pink Ranunculus

- 12 short stems of Eucalyptus leaves or similar silver grey foliage

- a fairly large vase or container - in this case I have used a florist's zinc bucket

Tulips are starting to appear at flowers stalls on London street corners - and they come in all kinds of yummy and delicious colours.

And also finding Ranunculus in similar colour to the tulips - I didn't have too hesitate.

Pink and grey is a lovely combination - so the grey-green Eucalyptus leaves were perfect.

For conditioning the flowers - you'll also need:

- florists snippers or scissors

- a florist bucket

As always - condition the flowers by removing any leaves that would end up below the water line in the vase. Cut the stems at an angle - to increase water absorption. Put in a clean container with tepid water and leave in a cool, dark place over night or at least a few hours before making the final arrangement.

Sorry, about always repeating this last bit - but it's probably the most important thing you can do to make your flowers last longer! So I'm afraid you have to put up with me always going on about it.

Start by cutting down the the Eucalyptus into smaller stems. They should not be too long - you want the flowers to sit above the foliage.  You'll need between 10 and 15 little stems - depending on the size of container. First line them around the edges and then fill in the middle with the rest of the stems.

Put the vase at the edge of the work surface and measure the height of the flowers before making the final cut. The Ranunculus should sit just above the foliage - but you can cut the tulips a bit shorter as they will continue to grow in the vase.  

A bowl of pink raffia! I love raffia and use it all the time to tie flowers and I tie it around vases as containers as decoration; I also use it instead of string or ribbons when I wrap presents.

In among the flowers and the pink raffia I have placed two little mini zinc watering cans. 

The evenings are getting darker and longer and its the time of year when its nice to light some candles. Have used some vintage mini tart tins with fluted edges to hold some tea lights. 

So here you have some flowers in strong colours and some little candles to brighten up the dark autumn evenings.

Have a Lovely Floral Monday!

See you later in the week!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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