Flowers of the Month - December 2016

It's almost the last day of December and it's time for another round-up of what I have been up to this last month. 

In 'Flowers of the Month' I feature all the different flowers and floral arrangements that I styled, photographed and posted exclusively on my blog 'Of Spring and Summer'.

The title of the post under the image - is also a link to the post - if you would like to see it again or you missed it.

A Bunch for the Weekend - Winter Bouquet

Florets - Floral Quote by Malin Hidesäter

Creative with Flowers - Pink Tulips

A Bunch for the Weekend - Paperwhites

Florets - Floral Quote by Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo

Creative with Flowers - White Amaryllis

A Bunch for the Weekend - Blue Hyacinths

Florets - Floral Quote by Hege Barnholt

Creative with Flowers - Pink Hyacinths

Happy Christmas! - Ilex Berries

Happy New Year! - Fruiting Eucalyptus 

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

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer - I will be back tomorrow with some end of years words. 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.

P. S. If you are looking for more floral inspiration you can go over and have a look at my Pinterest boards. I have just over 200 boards all relating to flowers, floral styling and flower arranging. There are boards on individual flowers and shows how to arrange them. 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 of the Month - December 2014

Paperwhites - 'Tiny Blooms' - 1 December

I'm back with 'Flowers of the Month' - where I'm highlighting all the different flowers I have used during the month of December.

The name of the flower - under the image - is also a link to the post where I featured the flower.

Amaryllis - 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - 5 December

White and Yellow Paperwhites and Eucalyptus - 

'Take 3 Flowers' - 8 December

Red Poinsettia - 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - 

13 December

Big White Cyclamen - 'Tiny Blooms' - 15 December

Mini Christmas Tree, Mini Red Poinsettia, Red Ilex Berries and Dried Fruit Wreath - 'FLOWERS by ingrid and titti' - 23 December

Skimmia japonica 'Rubella' - 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - December 26



Cyclamen as Cut Flowers - 'Tiny Blooms' - 
29 December



Amaryllis, Christmas Cactus and Holly - 'FLOWERS by ingrid and titti- 
Happy New Year!' - 31 December

I hope you have enjoyed the month of December in all its floral winter glory!

Here are links to some of the previous months flowers: 

August Flowers 2014

September Flowers 2014

October Flowers 2014

November Flowers 2014

Have a wonderful Floral Day and I will be back next month with another 'Flowers of the Month' - but before that I will see you again next week!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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

FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - Happy Christmas!

This time on 'FLOWERS by ingrid and titti' - Titti and I would like to wish you a very 'Happy Christmas!'

I have put together a hamper full of inspiration for some last minute Christmas decorating and present wrapping.

The famous London store Fortnum and Mason has been selling their hampers for nearly 300 years. Here is a link to the history of the Fortnum and Mason hamper. 

We were given one over 25 years ago and I kept the basket - of course I did - doesn't everyone! I have used it many times as a prop and here it is again full of delights.

I have of course added some flowers and other plant material - this collaboration with Titti is after all called 'FLOWERS'. Even though its in the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere and sometimes not that easy to find seasonal cut flowers. But there are plenty of other plant material that you can use for the festive season. 

Here are a few suggestions: 

- mini Poinsettia in little silver pots

- a mini Christmas tree with some bakers' twine bows

- a wreath made out of dried slices of orange, limes and apples with some dried chillies and cinnamon sticks

- a few little branches of Ilex with bright red berries 

The hamper is filled with all kinds of things useful if you are doing some of those last minute decorating and other preparations for Christmas.

- red ribbons in a few different designs - for wrapping presents and tying bows on paper bags, wreaths and tree - all the ribbons are designed by the lovely Jane Means

- red vintage Christmas tree baubles - for decorating the tree

- red and white little paper bags - useful for small presents to put under the tree

- red and white mushrooms - for decorating presents, tree or wreaths

- twine and string in different colours and thickness - for wrapping and tying bows on presents, wreaths, tree and candle holders

- wide hessian ribbon - for wrapping presents and making bows 

All of these suggestions are quick, easy and not very expensive to do and it's quite fun to be creative.

Titti Malmberg - my collaborator on FLOWERS - who is based in Sweden - is also wishing everybody 'Happy Christmas!' - or in her case 'God Jul!'. 

So please go over and see what she has done on her blog HWIT BLOGG.

You can see all our FLOWERS posts HERE and also on Pinterest.

Have a Happy and Wonderful Floral Christmas!

See you later in the week!

~ xoxo ~ 

Ingrid 

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

[All ribbons designed by Jane Means.] 

A Bunch for the Weekend - # 33 - Red Poinsettia

This week on 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - I'm featuring some bright red Poinsettias.

I'm using them here mostly as cut flowers - but I also have some potted mini ones. Nowadays you can buy large pots of Poinsettias very cheep in the supermarkets or DIY stores - and they make fabulous cut flowers.

All the ones I found are British grown - not flown in from far away - so that is very nice.

I wanted to display them in a very simple and neutral setting - and I didn't want to add any more colour - I felt the red was bright enough - so I just added some seasonal white and silver. 

  

You'll need:

- 2 large pots of Poinsettias with about four to six flowers on each plant

- 3 mini pots of Poinsettias with just one small flower on each

- lots of different size clear glass apothecary jars and containers or similar clear glass containers

- some tea-lights in candle holders with a bit of sparkle

- 10-12 small silver Christmas tree baubles 

For conditioning the flowers - you'll also need:

- a pair of florist scissors or snippers

- a florist bucket

- a container with boiling water

Cut the stems at an angle - to increase water absorption. 

But when you cut Poinsettias they excrete a milky sap - so you need to stop the sap leaking out to prevent the flower from wilting - some extra little conditioning methods are needed. 

There are a few ways to stop the sap leaking out of the plant. One is to sear the end of the stem with a flame for 10-15 seconds - another is to dip the end in boiling water for 30 seconds and yet another is to after cutting put the flower in warm water and leave it there until the sap stops flowing - then change the water.

I'm following Sarah Ravens suggestion of using the boiling water method. Cut the stem at an angle - have a bowl ready with boiled water - dip the bottom 5 mm/1/4" of the stem and hold it there for 30 seconds.

Arrange the flowers in the clear glass containers - I have used vintage apothecary bottles and jars with just one stem in each - super simple.

Among the bottles I have then arranged the three mini Poinsettias, some tea-lights in sparkly little candle holders and scattered quite a few small, silver Christmas tree baubles.

Quick, easy, minimal (except for all the red!) and as it turned out very cheep. Above all very seasonal and very much Christmas - but with a new slant on how to use a traditional Christmas flower! 

Here is a blog post I wrote two years ago - quite interesting that I used the same Christmas baubles and the same kind of mini Poinsettia in little silver pots. Back then I didn't know that you could use Poinsettia as a cut flower - you'll find that there is a bit more information about Poinsettia and some interesting links. 

Here is a link to what is called Stars for Europe - a European website with lots of information about Poinsettia. 

Have a Happy Floral Saturday and a Great Weekend!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

[Styling and Photography © Ingrid Henningsson for Of Spring and Summer]