A Bunch for the Weekend - # 109 - Mauve Sweet Peas

It's time to do a little bit of planning for the weekend and to buy some flowers is ALWAYS a good idea! 

Hello, that is why I do this blog series called 'A Bunch for the Weekend'.......

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."

I always feel that there is something very special about sweet peas. 

The ruffled shape of the petals, the almost endless range of colours and their intense sweet scent - are some of the reasons for these flowers being so popular. 

I have simply put twenty stems of of sweet peas all the same colour in a vintage French Pernod glass bottle. I found the bottle at a car boot sale in Suffolk a couple of years ago. I love the texture and the shape of the bottle.

All I had to do before putting them in the glass container was to trim the stems - so very quick and easy!  

I borrowed three sea urchin shells from my daughter. They match the colour of the flower petals perfectly. The very thin muslin adds some interesting texture to the image.

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

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

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

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Flowers: Pale mauve sweet peas from my favourite local street flower stall in North West London.]

[Vase/Container: A vintage French cafe Pernod glass bottle - bought at a car boot sale in Suffolk.]

[Other props: A vintage basket, a cup made by the Swedish potter Lotta Zerrander, three sea urchin shells and some muslin fabric - all from stylist's own prop collection.]

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

*****

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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 12 000 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/

FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - Romantic Roses

This week on FLOWERS Titti and I have chosen the theme Romantic Roses. This time of year it will be plenty of roses in flower. Or so we thought but the weather in Sweden has been a bit cold and Titti told me that roses were in short supply in her garden and here in London we have had quite a lot of rain. Cold and rain is not the best conditions for roses. So when I went out in my garden to see what was available - I was met by very sad, soggy and brown edged flowers that was not at all ready for the camera.......! 

In the end I did find a few - like this little beauty called Rosa 'Ferdinand Pichard'. It's a little bit of an unusual rose - no two flowers are ever alike. It's pale pink with crimson stripes and splashes all over the petals and has a wonderful strong and sweet scent.

What I also did find was plenty of peonies and I decided to mix in a few with the roses. I think they are at least as romantic as roses and they didn't seem to have minded the British weather. This one is called Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' - named after the French stage and screen actress.

As a contrast to all the romantic flowers I have used clear glass laboratory containers, beakers, jars and measuring jugs. All vintage and the clear glass nicely shows off the stems.
    

I found two other roses on my local rounds  - this one called 'Blue Pacific' - it has a light lilac colour but no scent. It's used a lot in bridal bouquets - so it fitted right in with our romantic theme.

  

The last rose is a little white spray rose - it has tinges of green on the edges of some the petals and I think its lovely.

The painting in the background in a lot of the images is by my dear sister-in-law Amy Trachtenberg.

In contrast with the romantic theme I added a few black props - a book with a black cover, three vintage knives with black handles, a black Jane Means ribbon tied around the knives, a small metal tin, some black dice, black and white bakers' twine and a small Marimekko bowl. 

  

This last image is of one of my favourite flowers at the moment - but my favourite changes with every season - this is just common cow parsley. 

Titti over on HWIT BLOGG will also be posting about Romantic Roses so please go over and have a look at what she has done.

Here is a link to all the previous FLOWERS Titti and I have done over the last six months. 

You can also see all the images on my Pinterest.

Have a Wonderful Floral Day!

See you later in the week.

xoxo Ingrid