A Bunch for the Weekend - # 87 - White Pinks, Statice and Eucalyptus

This week I'm featuring white Pinks, Statice and Eucalyptus - a lovely combination of white and purple flowers with the addition grey-green foliage.

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, 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 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.

The bright, white Pinks are almost luminous especially in contrast with the darker purple colour of the Statice.

I would very much here like to give Cel Robertson the credit she deserves for creating this combination of flowers. She has planted and grown them on her organic flower farm in Norfolk called Forever Green Flower Company. She then combines the flowers into bouquets and sells them at farmers' markets in London and elsewhere.

All I did was to buy two bunches from her at our local farmers' market and combine them into one big bouquet. 

I also made a smaller side bouquet with the white Pinks on their own in a vintage silver plated cream jug.

I like the shape and simplicity of these scissors - but oh, my dear are they uncomfortable - if you use them a lot. They don't stay sharp however often you sharpen them and the metal  dig into your hands. I would never recommend them to be used for any frequent work with flowers. I'm just featuring them here as a prop.

I apologise for being negative and critical about a very humble pair of scissors - I'm usually not negative and critical about things I feature on my blog because I like to show things I like. 

This on the other hand is one of my favourite brands - Marimekko. I have things that I bought in Sweden as a teenager and I'm still using them - shirts, bags, cushion covers and tablecloths. Quite amazing considering that it's quite a few years ago. 

Surrounding the flowers and combining them with a few black and white props has worked well - fabrics, scissors, bowl, basket and a few pieces of jewelry.

I have used a large vintage pickling jar as a vase. These clear glass, very plain straight sided pickling jars has become one of my favourite containers to use for flowers. They just seem to go with most blooms and don't take anything away from the flowers.

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

You might wonder where I've been - I had to take a short unscheduled break last week for personal reasons - but all is well and I'm now back to my usual blogging.

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back on Sunday with another floral quote by someone passionate about flowers. 

Ingrid 

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]
[All flowers and foliage from Forever Green Flower Company.]

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Florets - Floral Quote by Shannon Fricke

"A visit to the local flower market is an experience sure to open your eyes to the colour opportunities that our floral world offers. A stroll through the botanical gardens works in the same way. And of course, seeing the beauty of flowers growing wild in a field, just as nature intended, reminds us that all the inspiration you need can be found there."

~ Shannon Fricke ~ 

[Shannon Fricke: Australian, interior stylist, freelance writer, television presenter and author.]

[Quote from: Sense of Style - Colour by Shannon Fricke (2006).]

[Flowers: Pinks and snowberries.]

[Styling and Photography: © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.] 

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a great floral Sunday!

I'll be back on Monday with another Flower Agenda - this time it's all about Lisianthus.

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - Edible Flowers

The theme for FLOWERS this week is Edible Flowers. 

I have chosen seven different flowers that are generally accepted as edible - but to be cautious I will say that you should not eat any plants unless you are absolutely certain what they are and that they are OK to eat. Even so you should always look out for any allergic reactions. Any plants or flowers should also only be consumed in small quantities.

Apart from that you can have a lot of fun and do interesting things with pretty edible flowers.

The five flowers above are from top right:

• Marigold or Pot Marigold - Calendula officinalis
• Borage - Borago officinalis
• Thyme - Thymus vulgaris
• Lavender - Lavandula 
• Pinks - Dianthus

The two flowers below are:

• Jasmine - Jasminum officinalis
• Rose - Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' 

Using any flowers in food you need to make sure there are no little bugs hiding among the petals - so it might be a good idea to give them a shake and/or a wash - all depending how you are going to use them.

With roses and Dianthus gently pull the petals apart from the centre and cut off any white heel at the base, it tends to be bitter. 

Rose petals have a delicate flavour and can be used in drinks and fruit dishes. You can use them to make jam and jellies. 

Dianthus make colourful garnish to soups, salads, fruit salads and the punch bowl.

Both rose petals and Dianthus petals can be crystallised and used to decorate cakes.   

Borage flowers have this amazing electric blue colour and they have a bit of a cucumber flavour. You can use them as garnish in drinks, salads, soups or desserts. Cut the stem just under the flower and they are ready to use.

Jasmine is traditionally used in jasmine tea and in Oriental rice and shellfish dishes. 

Most edible flowers are beautiful and will make wonderful bouquets - here I have made an arrangement with four of the flowers in an old French mustard pot.

Thyme is a well known culinary herb that has tiny light purple flowers. Thyme leaves can be used in stews, stuffings, marinades, omelettes or scrambled eggs and the leaves and flowers are delicious in Bloody Mary cocktails.

Lavender is another well known herb as well as a beautiful cut flower. There are many ways to use the flowers in both sweet and savoury dishes. 

You can make lavender sugar as well as adding the flowers to biscuits, sorbets, jams and jellies. In France it's often used for desserts, vinegars and in the herb blend herbes de Provence.   

Marigolds/Calendula has a little bit of a spicy or peppery taste. Because of it's colour it's also called "poor man's" saffron.

During my research I found marigold used both in sweet and savoury dishes as well as for decoration on cakes. (In the last image of this blog post is a beautifully decorated cake full of marigold petals.)

Don't confuse it with Tagetes which are also known as marigolds.

You can make really pretty flower ice cubes with all these edible flowers.

Here is one way of making flower ice cubes:

Fill the ice cube tray half full of water and add one or several flowers - they will probably float to the top - which is fine. Freeze for an hour, and then fill the tray to the top with COLD water and immediately put back in the freezer.

When you top up the water you want to use cold water and you want to do it quickly to prevent the first half to defrost - or the flower will float to the top. You want to try to have the flower in the middle of the ice cube - it just looks prettier that way.

Here are some very pretty Pinks or Dianthus as they are also called - just floating in a vintage sugar bowl. Perfect for giving some colour when decorating the table for a summer tea party.

Last year I reviewed a book called Cooking with Flowers by Miche Bacher. It's a beautiful book full of sweet and savoury recipes - all using edible flowers.

Please note - that the Hyacinths in the last image are NOT edible! 

Titti over on HWIT BLOGG is also posting about Edible Flowers - so please go over and see what she has created with her flowers.

Here is a link to all the previous FLOWERS Titti and I have done so far.

You can also find all the images on my Pinterest.

Have a Creative Floral Day!

See you later in the week.

xoxo Ingrid

The Borage flowers are very generously provided by Cel Robertson at the Forever Green Flower Company.

Disclaimer: 

Eat flowers only when you are sure that they are edible and organically grown. Eat only small quantities and be aware of any allergic reactions. Also as always with plants and flowers consider the safety of children and animals.