Creative with Flowers - # 38 - Soft Pink Ranunculus in a Bag

This week on 'Creative with Flowers' - I'm featuring a bunch of beautifully soft pink and white Ranunculus.

This is a little "statement" that I add to the post - briefly explaining my thinking behind the posts:

"This series of blog posts - called 'Creative with Flowers' - are about using flowers in new and creative ways. It could be about how the flowers are combined - maybe in a little bit of an unusual way. It might be the choice of vase - maybe not a vase at all but a container that could be anything from jugs, bottles, jars, tins or teapots - vintage or new it doesn't matter. 

As always my arrangements will be quick and easy - and there will always be lots and lots of colour!"

I want to tell you a short little story about a bunch of flowers that I bought at a London street flower stall. The stall is at the bottom of Fitzjohn's Avenue - a wide tree-lined street leading up to Hampstead Village.

I always buy whatever catches my eye and on this day it was these gorgeous soft pink and white Ranunculus.

As soon as I get home I conditioned the flowers by removing the foliage, I trim the ends and put the flowers in water to give them a drink.

Whatever flowers I buy I always photograph them, I use different props, fabrics, tabletops and backgrounds. My inspiration comes from the flowers - the colour, the shape and the texture of the flowers.

I always have a little story in my head about the flowers, it can be about the season, the colours or how I want the flowers to look in the vase or the container.

Here is the end result this time......but every time it's different......!

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

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back on Friday with another 'A Bunch for the Weekend'. 

I'm looking forward to seeing you here then - a new post - new flowers - bright and early first thing in the morning.

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Flowers: A big bunch of soft pink Ranunculus. All flowers from my favourite local flower stall in North West London.]

[Vase/Container: Vintage white apothecary jar.]

[Other props: Vintage French linen fabrics, hats, vintage chair, vintage plant stand, secateurs and bag from stylist own prop collection.]

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

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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/

A Bunch for the Weekend - # 46 - Bright Yellow Daffodils

This week on 'A Bunch for the Weekend' - I'm featuring three different daffodils. Their botanical or Latin name are Narcissus.

The three are: 

- the small Narcissus with an orange middle is called 'Golden Dawn' 

- the single daffodil with the ruffled cup is called 'Carlton' 

- the large double daffodil is called 'Golden Ducat'.

They are all from the organic flower farm Forever Green Flower Company - so all British grown. 

You'll need:

- about 25 stems of daffodils, here I have used 9 'Golden Dawn', 9 'Carlton' and 7 'Golden Ducat' 

- a medium sized clear glass containers - I have used a clear glass apothecary jar

- three shimmering mini glass bud vases in gold, silver and green

- five little toy "spring lambs"

- a small piece of fabric - green with cream dots

- ribbon, a light yellow grosgrain stitched ribbon from Jane Means, to tie around the neck of the container

For conditioning the flowers - you'll also need:

- a pair of florists scissors

- a florist bucket filled with fresh water

Condition the flowers by removing any leaves that would end up below the water line in the vase. This is to reduce any growth of bacteria from deteriorating leaves. Also remove any broken or bruised leaves.

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

Put in a clean container with fresh water and leave in a cool, dark place over night or at least for a few hours, to let the flowers absorb the maximum of water, before making the final arrangement.

You might have to re-cut the stems while making the final arrangement to suit the size of the vase or container and to get the right proportions.

Arrange the flowers in your hand - making a round dome-shaped bouquet - mix the flowers so that you have an even spread of the three different sized flowers throughout the arrangement.

Before you make the final cut - put the container at the edge of the work surface and hold the arrangement next to it to measure where to cut. You want the lower flowers to sit just above the edge of the container.

This arrangement is as bright as they come and really show that spring is here to stay. I certainly welcome bright yellow daffodils at this time of year - but maybe not so much yellow the rest of the year. What about you - is yellow a colour you use all year around? 

Have a Happy Floral Saturday and 

Enjoy Your Easter Weekend!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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

[Ribbon by Jane Means.]

[Flowers from Forever Green Flower Company.] 

FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - Harvest Table

This time on 'FLOWERS by ingrid and titti' - the theme is Harvest Table.

My inspiration for this FLOWERS came from all the warm red, orange and yellow autumn colours that I saw at my local farmers' market and street flower sellers. I wanted to make a harvest table with a little bit of a difference. 

My pick for the day was some sunflowers - the only ones I found was yellow - even though the the burnt orange and more maroon ones are my favourite. I love the contrast between the bright yellow petals and the dark, dark brown centre - what a stunning combination. 

Next on my list was a handful of stems of Chinese lanterns - that has the tongue twister Latin name - Physalis alkekengi.

Chinese lanterns are beautiful when dried - hang them upside down - tied with a rubberband - that tightens as the stems dry out and the bunch will not fall apart. Hang them in a well ventilated, dark and dry place for a few weeks. You can then put them in a vase or container and enjoy their beauty for a long time.

The last flower/plant I choose was crabapples or Malus sylvestris as they are also called. There are many different kinds of crabapples and they come in yellow, red, light green and some are yellow and a bit orange blushed with pink - my favourite.

To decorate the table I just laid a branch straight on the table - quick and easy and I cut a few of the little apples off the bottom of the branch and scattered them around on the table - as a playful gesture.

Crabapples can be expensive to buy - but just one, two or three branches in a glass vase is very effective and stunning. If you have a tall glass vase - leave the branches as long as you can, just put a little bit of water in the bottom and leave all the apples and leaves intact at the bottom of the branches and enjoy the amazing woody stems of Malus apples through the glass vase. 

They can last for several weeks and when you are done with them the birds and squirrels will enjoy eating them in the garden. 

You can also harvest the crabapples and cook with them - you can pickle them and you can make jelly and cordial.

I also wanted to play around with other kinds of 'harvesting' or to be more precise 'collecting'. My husband has collected old classic Penguin paperbacks since 'forever' and the amazing orange colour on the spines is a perfect match with the Chinese lanterns.

Over time I have accumulated a collection of garden twines in all kinds of different colours. These brightly red and orange ones fitted right in with the Harvest Table colour scheme.

I just adore these colours - especially like on a day like today when it has incessantly been pouring with rain all day. Just looking at the colours makes me in a better mood! 

As well as putting a few stems of Chinese lanterns in a vase - I also cut off quite a few and put them in a vintage wooden bowl - adding a few green ones works well as a contrast.

Titti Malmberg - the other half of FLOWERS - is also featuring a harvest table over on her blog HWIT BLOGG - please go over to there and see what she has done.

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

Have a Lovely Floral Day!

~ xoxo ~ 

Ingrid 

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

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.]

Floral Styling - A Simple Flower Arrangement - # 5 - Orange Tulips

Bright orange and yellow tulips might not be the easiest to combine with other colours. Instead of trying to find contrasting colours I decided to just add even more orange and a bit of brown - in the form of an orange and brown cushion, some brightly painted wooden horses and a brown glass jar.

The flowers are from my local farmers' market and after conditioning them by removing lower leaves and cutting the stems at an angle and then leaving them to stand in water for a while - I arranged them very simply in the jar.

The container that I have used as a vase is a vintage brown glass apothecary jar with an interesting enamel label with lettering and it normally has a round glass lid.

I left as many leaves as possible just to break up all the orange and yellow with a bit of green. I also cut the stems a little bit shorter than normally - tulips continue to grow in the vase - as I wanted the flowers to stand quite straight in a tight bunch and not flop over the sides of the vase. 

I want to tell you a little bit about these brightly painted horses. They are traditional Swedish Dala horses and are probably something that you would see in most Swedish homes. The name comes from the province where they are made - Dalarna. They are all hand carved and hand painted and today its a symbol of Dalarna and Sweden. Dala horses are often used by designers on fabrics, as jewellery and in knitting patterns. 

My little collection of Dala horses is a mixture of old and new collected over the years. The faded one on the right is probably from the 1950's.

If you like orange flowers here is another post that I did last year. It's called Floral Fusion - Here Comes Spring!

Have a Lovely Floral Day!

See you soon!

xoxo Ingrid

[All images © Ingrid Henningsson for Of Spring and Summer.]