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:

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

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

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

A Bunch for the Weekend - # 25 - Pink Dahlias and Pink Snowberries

This week on 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - I'm featuring some large pink Dahlias and some branches of pink snowberries. 

I love the subtle pink in both the Dahlias and the snowberries so I wanted to combine the two in an arrangement - as well as making a small arrangement using the cut off lower branches from the snowberries - I also wanted to display some of the heads of the Dahlias in a different way.

You'll need:

- 10 stems of a large Dahlia

- a good bunch of branches of snowberries

- a large quite heavy or sturdy container in a neutral colour

- a small vase in a contrasting colour

- some kind of low container to float the Dahlia heads in -  in a matching colour to the small vase

- florist snippers and a pair of secateurs

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 place over night or at least a few hours before making the final arrangement.

You need a large container that is sturdy enough to hold the branches of snowberries - with a lot of berries they become very heavy. Start off by putting the snowberry branches in the container - they will bend and gracefully arch over the sides of the container. They will be hard to restrain so just let them do their thing and let them go wherever they want to go.

You'll probably need to cut off some of the lower, smaller branches - these will make up the second small arrangement of snowberries. 

Next put in the Dahlias - cut them a bit shorter to sit below most of the snowberries - by gently feeding them in-between the branches. 

For the floating arrangement use a low container - a bowl or similar. I have used a vintage cast iron Yorkshire pudding mould. Cut off most of the stems and float them in a little bit of water.

I have then used a matching black mini vase for the lower cut off branches and made a very small arrangement with only snowberries. 

The contrasting black gives the whole arrangement a bit of drama. The Dahlias last for about 4-5 days - but the snowberris lasts for longer. Any berries that might go brown - just gently twist them off and if you re-cut the ends of the stems they will last for about a week or even longer.

Have a lovely Floral Friday!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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