Florets - Floral Quote by Vic Brotherson

When I first started out, I used to dream of having a cupboard full of vases, jugs, bottles and pots to display my flowers. Now I am lucky enough to have a shop stuffed from floor to ceiling with every conceivable shape and size of container; and yet there are still days when we need one just a bit wider or lower. My advice would be to keep as many different styles of container as possible, then your choice will be easier. My personal style is for the vintage, classic shapes of container with traditional lines that really allow the flowers to work their magic.

~ Vic Brotherson ~

[Vic Brotherson - florist and founder of her London flower shop Scarlet and Violet, author of Vintage Flowers.]

[Quote from Vintage Flowers by Vic Brotherson.]

[Flowers: Purple and pink Gladioli.

[Vintage Props: White china apothecary jar, lavender metal cake tin.]

[Other Props: Purple scarf, tissue paper and necklace.]

[Styling and Photography by Ingrid Henningsson for Of Spring and summer.] 

Floral Fusion - Blue Hyacinths and Anemones

In the April issue of House & Garden - the one published in the UK - I was delighted when I found an article that featured the London florist Vic Brotherson. 

I featured a floral quote by her here on my blog last Sunday - in the series that I call Florets. 

So you will already kow that she owns the charming florist shop Scarlet & Violet in Kensal Rise in North West London.

Her work and her book is inspiring and her shop is like a treasure trove full of flowers and vintage. 

Here is my version of mixing flowers and vintage treasures.

The theme I came up with after finding some blue Hyacinths and dark blue Anemone - was you've guessed it - Blue!

The lovely blue floral fabric that I have used as the base is a Liberty fabric. 

Going through mine and my daughters collections of jewellery I found lots of wonderful blue bead necklaces. Some ethnic others just M&S. 

Walking on Hampstead Heath in North London I found over the years a lot of broken china that was just laying on the paths. For a long time I wondered why that was and the explanation is that during the Second World War they filled bags with sand from the Heath and after the war they filled the holes with rubble from bomb sites. There is a bit of odd history for you!

So the broken china is from Hampstead Heath and the crystals are vintage chandelier crystals.

As you probably know by now I love vases and other odd containers. Here are three blue ones.

The very old jug has a very pretty blue and white floral pattern and underneath it still has a label saying: "Swansea, Woodbine, sheet pattern jug". I bought it many years ago at an antique fair and I still think it's so much fun to use it as a vase.

The solid blue container is a vintage French polishers jar bought last year at the Country Living Fair - it works great as a vase and I love the blue colour.

The small light blue vintage ink bottle is great for using as bud vase for just one single flower cut very short.

At the moment you see a lot of globes in interior magazines. I bought a few of them some years ago from different car-boot sales around London, for very little money. This one was made by a toy company called Chad Valley in the late 1940's and 1950's. 

The two flowers I've used are dark blue Hyacinths and very dark Anemone.

I have used odd numbers - nine Hyacinths in the jug with just a few leaves and five Anemone in the jar and obviously just one single stem in the ink bottle.

The Hyacinths are still in quite tight bud so I will be able to enjoy them for some time. 

If you use old containers like I have done her - don't put them straight on a wooden surface - old china often leaks so make sure to protect the surface. 

Thanks for stopping by and for making lovely comments.

I'll be back very soon with more floral delights!

xoxo Ingrid