Flowers and Ribbons - # 4 - Jars with Ribbons - Part 1

Over time you have probably noticed that I often feature beautiful ribbons. I'm part of a team of international bloggers who use ribbons from Jane Means' ribbon collection. Jane provides us with ribbons and we use them in some of our blog posts. 

I'm now doing a regular series of blog posts called 'Flowers and Ribbons' where I use Jane's ribbons in combination with flowers and foliage.

This month we are taking a look at a simple way of creating stunning little flower arrangements using pretty flowers, ribbons and re-cycled jam jars as vases. Quick and easy and for very little money!

Old jam jars are perfect for making low and compact flower arrangements. Cut the stems quite short, let the flowers rest on the edge of the jars and fill the jars with as many flowers that will fit.

I have kept to a tight colour scheme using pink double tulips and pink and white ranunculus in one jar.

In the other one I have used the same pink tulips again with some pure white single tulips and and a green and white parrot tulip.

The ribbons are from Jane Means' ribbon collection - one has pink stripes and the other has pink stitching, in two different pink colours, along the edges.

The two arrangements work very well together on a coffee or side table as well as perfect side by side on a mantle piece. Or use them separately with some colour coordinated props picking up the colour in the flowers.

Have a lovely floral day!

I'll be back next month with another 'Flowers and Ribbons. Before that I'll see you later in the week.

[Styling and Photography: © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]
[All ribbons shown are from Jane Means' Collection of Ribbons.]

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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.]

Flowers from the Flower Market - # 4 - Delphiniums

Delphiniums are magnificent at this time of year and I just could not leave the market without bringing some home. It's a flower that come in many different pink and blue colours as well as white and peach. 

 The one little difficulty with Delphiniums are that they are quite tall - so you need a tall vase. Tall vases become top heavy so they are not always easy to deal with but apart from that it's a great flower that you don't have to do a lot to and lasts well. 

It's a flower that starts flowering from the bottom of the spike while the top still has tight buds. You will need to remove the lower spent flowers as the buds open up. 

Like always condition the flowers by removing any lower leaves that will end up below the waterline in the vase. Cut the stems at an angle and put straight in a clean container with water - and leave over night in a cool place. 

Delphiniums are a flower that remind me of an old-fashioned country garden and I thought these blue and white floral vases had the same feel about them. 

Just to be on the safe side I put all the old vintage vases on little saucers - also blue and white floral china. Don't ever trust an old china vase - as they might leak and ruin your tabletop. 

You don't need to do very much to delphiniums - they are perfect on their own and their loose country garden style is easy and charming.

Keep the tall spires all the same height to give a neat finish to your arrangement.  

I was able to make one lower arrangement with a light pink Delphinium - that I only had one stem of. I cut it quite short - put it in a low vase and used some stems with unopened buds in the back. Simple and easy!  

Have a Lovely Floral Day!

See you later in the week!

xoxo Ingrid

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

A Bunch for the Weekend - # 8 - Pink Delphiniums

A Bunch for the Weekend - this week is all pink. Well, to be exact it's three stems of pink Delphiniums and two stems of green Delphinium buds.

Delphiniums are made up of tall, narrow spikes - so you need a tall vase. I have used an old sake bottle - turned out to be the perfect container. It worked well as it was tall enough and everything looked in proportion.

It's a flower that starts flowering from the bottom of the spike while the top still has tight buds. You will need to remove the lower spent flowers as the buds open up. 

Have a Fun and Floral Friday!

See you on Sunday for another floral quote from a flower lover!

xoxo Ingrid

[Flowers from Forever Green Flower Company.]

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