FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - Flowers in August

My Swedish collaborator Titti Malmberg and I are back with a new season of FLOWERS.

Over the spring and summer there has been quite a lot of changes in Titti and my lives. Titti has made a move - away from the island of Öland - where she had lived for many years. She has moved a bit further south on the mainland but still lives along the coast.

I have started to train as a florist and did a Certificate in Floral Design during the spring. I will continue with a more advanced level soon. In the summer months we have had some long overdue work done on our house and garden and at times it has been like living on a building site - but hopefully it will look great once its all done.

The theme for this FLOWERS is 'Flowers in August' - and I have chosen to feature three late summer flowers - Dahlias, Sedum and Snapdragons.

I still have limited access to all my props and my 'photography studio' - but I was able to find a pretty basket, a large glass jar and two white vases.

Using a basket to display your flowers in you will need to put the flowers in a waterproof container of some sort. I just used a low wide glass jar. The flowers look pretty just resting on the edge of the basket.

The light pink Snapdragons or Antirrhinum, which is the botanical name, is a lovely contrast to the dark pink Dahlias and the still green Sedum.

I arranged the large pink and yellow Dahlias in two vintage vases. The two white vases are the same colour, has narrow necks and both has deep ridges all the way around but they have different shapes.

The Dahlias came with plenty of leaves and quite a few buds - but I removed all that as I just wanted the large flowers. I also cut the stems short as I wanted the flowers to sit just above the top of the vase.

I used three Dahlias in each vase - remember the rule of uneven numbers - use three, five or seven flowers - it looks more natural and is easier on the eye.

Three flower heads fitted snugly in the neck of the vase and gives the arrangement a feeling of being large and generous.  

The last arrangement is a little bit of an exploration on an idea that I had. I started off with a very large straight-sided vintage pickling jar. 

I divided up the flowers and cut the stems three different lengths. I filled the jar with just a little bit of water. The short ones went in the bottom of the jar, the medium length went half way up the jar and the longest at the top. 

The longer stems are hidden by the shorter flowers - so what you have is 'a jar full of flowers'. This is not an arrangement that will last very long. Flowers needs air circulating around them so you run the risk of of the flowers inside the jar going a bit 'soggy'. But its a fun and different way of displaying flowers.  

Please, go over to HWIT BLOGG and have a look at how Titti has interpreted the theme of 'Flowers in August'. 

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a great floral day!

I will be back soon with more floral delights.

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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

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FLOWERS by ingrid and titti - Late Summer Colour

This time on 'FLOWERS by ingrid and titti' - we are doing 'Late Summer Colour'. 

I can hear you say: "What is she talking about - all I can see is white and green - not much colour there!"

Well, I went out with the best intentions - imagining coming back home with brightly coloured Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, Asters and Hydrangeas.

It was not to be - at one of my local Wednesday farmers' market - all the Dahlias were already gone when I got there - even though I was really early. 

At the next stop - a flower stall a few streets away - I didn't I see any Dahlias or Chrysanthemums and when I asked - I was told that they don't stock them because nobody buys them. And the Hydrangea was so expensive my jaw dropped open. 

It's a crazy world out there - all I was asking for was seasonal flowers!!

But I was not going to give up so easily - I quickly had to re-think my strategy and as there was plenty of white flowers to be had - I went back and could happily pick and choose from both places - all kinds of different white flowers.  

I picked out some lovely white medium-sized Chrysanthemums, some white snapdragons also called Antirrhinum - that the bees love, and the last ones were some stock flowers that are also called Matthiola. 

White flowers often have a lot of light green coming through - in this case all the flowers I used have some green either in the buds or the centre of the flower.

I also bought some lovely snowberries - these white berries has quickly become a favourite with a lot of designers and stylists - and I'm not surprised as they are just lovely. They also come with stunning pink berries - you can use them with or without leaves - mixed in with other flowers or by themselves.

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.

I added a few little green vases - among them this amazing hand-blown vase - that is more like a piece of art - a beauty with or without flowers. 

I arranged the flowers directly in the vase - I wanted the shorter flowers to sit just above the edge of the container. It's a very large vintage preserving jar that I picked up in Sweden at a 'loppis'.

I then cut the stems longer in the centre of the arrangement to make a nice domed shape. 

When I work with flowers I use both a pair of snippers and a sturdy pair of scissors. It's often quite handy to have both. I also often wear a thin pair of garden gloves - just to give my hands some protection. 

Here is a little close-up of the three white flowers and the white snowberries.

My collaborator on FLOWERS - Titti Malmberg over on her blog HWIT BLOGG - is also posting about late summer flowers - so pop over and see what she is up to.

If you are interested - you can see all our FLOWERS posts HERE or on Pinterest.

Have a Lovely Floral Day!

~ xoxo ~ 

Ingrid 

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

Flowers of the Month - September 2014

This is the second month I'm featuring 'Flowers of the Month' - where I'm highlighting all the different flowers I have used during the month of September.

Here is a link to the month of August flowers.

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

Gladiolus

Callistephus

Alostroemeria, Scabiosa and Snapdragons

Zinnia

Feverfew/Tanacetum

Hydrangea

Ornamental Cabbage

Dahlia

Hydrangea and Snowberries

Chrysanthemum

Aster

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

Have a wonderful Floral Day!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid

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

Floral Styling - A Simple Flower Arrangement - # 9 - Alstroemeria, Snapdragons and Scabiosa

Being able to find several flowers that has almost the same colour is sometimes not easy. I felt so lucky to find three different flowers of similar colour and loved being able to combine these dark pink flowers in an arrangement. 

You'll need:  

- 9 stems of Alstroemeria
- 12 stems of Scabiosa
- 3 stems of Antirrhinum also called Snapdragons
- light-coloured or neutral vase with a fairly wide opening
- dark-coloured plate or tray
- some black buttons and a black frame

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.

Start by trimming the Alstroemeria so that the flowers sits about 5-6 cm above the rim of the vase. Do the same to the rest of the stems - some of the flowers will naturally hang over the edge of the vase. 

Trim the Scabiosa to similar length and dot the flowers in amongst the Alstroemeria. 

Trim the snapdragons so that they sit above the rest of the other flowers - to suggest some movement and textural interest. 

I then positioned the vase on a black metal plate - a bit off-centre and added some vintage black buttons next to the arrangement.
   

All the buttons are from my mother's and grandmother's "button collections" - I think it was a way of thinking. "Never throw away a button - they might come in useful." When sorting out my grandparents old house in Sweden - I found several cake tins full of buttons. I kept a small amount - I especially like this collection of large black buttons from the 1930's, 40's and 50's in wood and early plastic materials. 

The black empty frame in the background picks up the black theme and nicely 'frames' this dark and dramatic late summer arrangement.

The flowers are grown by Cel Robertson at Forever Green Flower Company and I bought them at my local farmers market where they have a stall every Saturday morning.

Have a Lovely and Creative Day with Flowers!

~ xoxo ~ 

Ingrid

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