A Bunch for the Weekend - # 102 - Rustic Country

This week on 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - I'm featuring pink waxflowers, purple Limonium with some good old parrot tulips that you might recognise.  

Here is a little "statement" that I add - to briefly explaining 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 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 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 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."

After conditioning the flowers let them rest for a few hours or overnight just to give them time to absorb as much water as possible. If you are able to keep them in a cool place even better.

I have covered the table with a length of hessian fabric - leaving the cut edges 'raw' to give that overall feel of rustic country.

The two rustic terracotta jars are from Turkey. I bought them from a shop selling terracotta pots in all shapes and sizes right around the corner from my house. The shop was closing down and selling everything very cheap.

One has handles and the other one is a bit shorter and rounder and they are both perfect for flower arrangements. 

I bought the little green watering can at Chelsea Flower Show last year - but had not tried to use it for flowers yet. I put it under the tap to fill it with water and instead of filling up it started within seconds to leaking like a sieve. It just made me laugh as it was totally unexpected.  

The Limonium and the waxflowers are usually used as fillers for mixed flower arrangements. I thought they looked lovely together and mixed two bunches of each in the tall terracotta jar.

Filler flowers are usually sold for a lower price so perfect if you are on a budget. Lots of flowers and lots of colour for very little money. A perfect combination and a win, win situation!

Here is another image of the notorious watering can!

The deep pink parrot tulips I had used before in a previous blog post. They lasted for ages and I decided to use them again for this post. 

Here I simply swapped the container and put them instead in a matching terracotta jar. They looked perfect sitting in the background  of my 'Rustic Country' scene.

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 floral quote by someone passionate about flowers. 

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

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]
[Flowers: Rich pink parrot tulips, purple Limonium and pink waxflowers.]
[Vase/Container: Vintage rustic terracotta jars.]

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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 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 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 by ingrid and titti - Top 10 2014!

'Tulips' - 29 January

Titti and I were talking about that we thought it would be fun to show some of the most popular FLOWERS blog posts. 

So we decided to show a selection of one or two from each season. The caption below each picture is also a link to the original blog post.   

'Valentine's Day' - 6 February



'Spring Bulbs' - 19 February

'Spring on Your Doorstep' - 4 April

'Romantic Roses' - 4 June



'Midsummer Flowers' - 18 June




'Flowers in a Basket' - 6 August



'Edible Bouquet' - 20 August



'Autumn Wreath' - 17 September



'Harvest Table' - 15 October

Titti is also showing a selection of some of her images from FLOWERS over on her blog HWIT BLOGG.

You can see all our FLOWER images on this 'Page' on my blog.

On Pinterest Titti and I have a pin-board designated to FLOWERS.

Have a Glorious Floral Day!

I'll be back next week!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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

Floral Styling - A Simple Flower Arrangement - # 7 - Ranunculus

Two big bunches of pink Ranunculus

Two stems of waxflowers

A square glass vase

A vintage wooden container

A few small new and vintage green glass vases 

Condition the flowers by stripping off any lower leaves that would end up below the water line. 

Cut the stems at an angle and place in a clean container of water.

Leave in a cool place over night or at least for a few hours before making the final arrangement.

I wanted to make an open and loose arrangement with the Ranunculus and adding in just a few stems of waxflowers.

Fill the inner glass vase with water and place inside the larger wooden container. Loosely arrange the Ranunculus stems - leave the stems as long as possible so that they lean over the sides of the wooden container. 

Use as many of the unopened buds as possible to give the arrangement some texture and at the end cut down the waxflowers and add randomly to the arrangement.

A particularly beautiful flower gets its very own little special vase.
    

Have a Beautiful Floral Day!

See you soon!

xoxo Ingrid

FLOWERS by ingrid & titti - Tulips

I know I'm a little late - it was Tulip Day in Sweden on the 15 January and it was also National Tulip Day in Holland on the 18 January. It is the official beginning of the tulip season in both countries and the season last till the end of April.  

I love tulips and any day is tulip day for me!! I love fringed tulips, parrot tulips, single tulips, double tulips, lily flowered tulips, multi coloured tulips - almost any will do and I'm a happy bunny! 

I was excited when Titti and I decided that our theme for this our next instalment of FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - was going to be Tulips.

In the first arrangement I have used two different coloured tulips - one very pale pink and the other an almost fuchsia coloured tulip. The container is an old zink florist flower bucket that I normally use when I condition my flowers - but I liked the neutral grey against all the pink.  

I couldn't believe my luck when I was out looking for tulips I also found some waxflowers that picked up the two pink tulip colours. I used some of the waxflowers in the large arrangement and I also made three small arrangements in three mini vases. 

I added a couple of votive candle holders - it is still winter so some candle light is always nice at this time of year.  

In the other arrangement I have used the same pale pink tulips but this time mixed them with some white tulips - for a very pale pastel look. 

The vase I used is an Art Deco 1930's pale green vase with a handle - that makes it look like a jug but it is not - it would never pour very well. 

The pink and white fabric is by the Swedish designer Lotta Jansdotter - now based in Brooklyn, New York. A little light green mini glass vase picks up the green. 

Here is a link to HWIT BLOG - so you can go and have a look at Titti's lovely floral arrangements.

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Here are also links to the first two FLOWERS by ingrid and titti:

FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - Christmas.

FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - White Flowers for New Years.

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Have a Wonderful Floral Day!

Back soon!

xoxo Ingrid

Ingrid's Floral Tips # 4

This is the fourth in my series of Ingrid's Floral Tips. I will give you links to the first three at the end of the post.

This post is about how to take care of your flowers once you have conditioned them and made up the arrangement at home.

# 1. Flowers will last longer if you put them in a cool place at night.

# 2.  Avoid putting your flower arrangement too close to any heat source like a radiator or heater, in a window with direct sunlight or close to any electronic equipment that gives off heat.

# 3. Change the water in the vase every couple of days and at the same time if possible re-cut the stems. This might not always be practical - as you don't want the arrangement to fall apart or if it means that the flower stems would end up too short in the vase.

# 4. If you have a large arrangement and you don't want to take the flowers out of the vase - one trick to change the water in the vase - is to put the whole arrangement vase and all in the sink under the running tap and let the water run clear in the vase. 

You have to be able to pick up the vase - it might be very heavy when full of flowers and water, the sink has to be deep enough for the vase to fit under the tap and you have to dry the outside of the vase - but if you can do that then you are OK.

# 5. Keep flowers away from fruit and vegetables. Ripening fruit produce ethylene gas that will make your flowers wilt faster. 

# 6. Remove any wilted or fading flowers as they appear in order to keep the rest of the flowers looking nice and healthy. 

# 7. Some flowers in an arrangement will last longer then others and it might not look as nice as it did to begin with. Then don't be afraid to de-construct the whole arrangement. Discard any faded flowers, cut the stems shorter and make up several smaller arrangements. 

Maybe use bud vases or make up a collection of bottles with just one stem in each or make new arrangements in some jam jars. 

# 8. Always make sure that any container you use is watertight. If you use a glass vase you can obviously be certain - but if you use a vintage vase or container of any other material you can never be certain. Pottery, china and metal are all to be treated with suspicion! I have learnt this from bitter experience and ruined many surfaces. If you are not sure - always put some kind of plate, tray or dish under the vase.  

Here are links to the previous three posts:

Ingrid's Floral Tips # 1 - Where to Buy Cut Flowers.

Ingrid's Floral Tips # 2 - How to Choose Your Cut Flowers.

Ingrid's Floral Tips # 3 - How to Condition Your Flowers.

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Have a Wonderful Floral Day!

Back soon!

xoxo Ingrid

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