Florets - Floral Quote - # 165 - by Selina Lake

'Florets - Floral Quote' is a series of blog posts where I feature quotes by authors - mostly well known - but you will also find some obscure ones.

All the authors have written one or several books about flowers, green plants, gardening, interior styling or interior design. Many are experts in their field but what is the most important is that they are all passionate about flowers and plants.

I love books and in my ever growing library I look for quotes that I hope will be both inspiring and be useful while arranging flowers or green plants in your home.

" Berries are winter's version of spring blossoms. Well, for a short time...before the birds have a feast. If you have berries in your garden and want to create a gorgeous display, perhaps on your kitchen or dining table, invest in a pair of decent garden pruners and a pair of gloves, as most plants and trees that produce berries also have sharp thorns. Gather your collection of cuttings and arrange them in a large glass jar filled with water. I particularly like using long rosehip cuttings and the beautiful autumnal berries of the callicarpa shrub. Place shorter cuttings of rosemary, ivy and holly in a variety of vases and glass bottles."

~ Selina Lake ~  

[Selina Lake: British, freelance interior stylist and author of six books.]

[Quote from: Winter Living by Selina Lake, (2015). Published by Ryland Peters and Small.]

[Cover photography: Debi Treloar.]

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

Happy Christmas!

I would like to wish everybody a wonderful and very

 Happy Holiday!

God Jul!

Happy Christmas!

Season's Greetings!

All the best and lots of love!

xoxo Ingrid

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

Christmas Creativity with Hyacinths

This is a lovely video with the top Swedish florist, Anna Gouteva, showing us how to be creative with hyacinths.
The video is in Swedish but it's still worth having a look even if you don't understand what she says. She shows quite clearly how to make the different arrangements. 

Anna talks about how she loves every part of the hyacinth - the root system, the bulb, the leaves and of course the flowers.
She makes little arrangements on small trays keeping both soil and roots as well as an arrangement using hyacinths as a cut flower under a glass dome. 
She also shows us how to create an unusual table setting using wallpaper instead of a tablecloth. Builds a centrepiece by connecting the cleaned off bulbs with florist wires she also adds other flowers for height as well as some lovely candles.
The last arrangement is a coffee table arrangement in a large bowl with white hyacinths, sedum and pinecones.

The video is created by the Swedish Flower Council Blomsterfrämjandet.
     

Florets - Floral Quote - # 164 - by Malin Hidesäter and Anna Skoog

'Florets - Floral Quote' is a series of blog posts where I feature quotes by authors - mostly well known - but you will also find some obscure ones.

All the authors have written one or several books about flowers, green plants, gardening, interior styling or interior design. Many are experts in their field but what is the most important is that they are all passionate about flowers and plants.

I love books and in my ever growing library I look for quotes that I hope will be both inspiring and be useful while arranging flowers or green plants in your home.

" Christmas is coming! The time leading up to Christmas, before everything gets stressful, is lovely. I buy wreaths and decorate the entire house with flowers, not least hyacinths, for their scent is a must in December. Of course, it's lovely to have Christmas baskets and potted hyacinths but cut flowers can bring just as much Christmas spirit into the home. Why not release the traditional flowers like amaryllis and hyacinths from their pots and bulbs and use them in exciting different ways? Try them with white orchids!"

~ Malin Hidesäter ~ 

[Malin Hidesäter: Swedish florist, flower expert, floral stylist, TV presenter and author of two books - Flower Power and Krukväxter.]

[Quote from: Flower Power (2007) by Malin Hidesäter and Anna Skoog.]

[Jacket photography: by Anna Skoog.]

[Plant material: Moss and dried bloodorange slices.]

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

Winter Bouquet for Christmas

Here is a short video showing you how to make a very simple winter bouquet for Christmas.



The two main colours are white and grey green foliage.

The flowers are spray chrysanthemums, roses, limonium and single chrysanthemums and the foliage are grey-green eucalyptus and beargrass.

The bouquet is made as a handtied arrangement where all the stems are crossed. You can tie it with some raffia ready to give as a gift or simply put in a beautiful vase like they have done here.

[Video provided by Elle Decoration and design by Interflora. Florist is Nika Wahren from Skillad Floral Design and video by Johan Hedberg.]

From the Archives - 29 December 2014 -Tiny Blooms - Cyclamens as Cut Flowers

This post is part of a brand new blog series called 'From the Archives'. It will be previously posted blog posts that I feel are still relevant for some reason or another. 

It will always be a post from the same calendar month as we are in or it could be some of my favourite flowers from the same season - that still lifts my spirit. 

Flowers are so ephemeral - but their beauty caught on camera never fades.........!!

This series of blog posts - called 'Tiny Blooms - are about small arrangements. Small - might be the size of the container or it could be the size of the flowers or the amount of stems in each container. It will also be that the arrangement is minimal both in presentation and that it's quick and easy to do. Apart from that there are no other strict rules - I'm allowing myself a lot of creative freedom!

Over the month of December I've been doing a few inspirational posts - that I've called 'Black and White Christmas' - and as it's still December - here is another one for the the New Year. 

Well, they are mostly white - with some black additions - and mixing contemporary elements with some vintage. 

As my 'tiny bloom' I have used yet again some white Cyclamen - but this time it's the smaller variety. But instead of displaying the whole pot with the flowers - I decided to use the cyclamens as a cut flower. 

I had earlier bought quite a few little pots with lots of cyclamen buds - I kept them outside and they very happily opened up its beautiful little flowers. 

So for this little project I cut about 30 stems and put them all in a little black vase.

As we are still in the holiday season - I added a Swedish vintage wooden toadstool, some plump cranberries and in the background I've displayed a mini Christmas tree.

All very quick and easy - the flowers last for about a week and if you plant the cyclamen in your garden - it will come back year after year.

Have a Lovely Floral Day!

I'll see you later in the week!

~ xoxo ~

Ingrid 

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

Florets - Floral Quote - # 163 - by Paula Pryke

'Florets - Floral Quote' is a series of blog posts where I feature quotes by authors - mostly well known - but you will also find some obscure ones.

All the authors have written one or several books about flowers, green plants, gardening, interior styling or interior design. Many are experts in their field but what is the most important is that they are all passionate about flowers and plants.

I love books and in my ever growing library I look for quotes that I hope will be both inspiring and be useful while arranging flowers or green plants in your home.

"Flowering Plants and displays indoors are essential to get one through the winter gloom. The barren trees and bushes in my garden and the wider landscape and bundles of twigs at the flower market suggests new designs.

I spend more time working with foliages and I am inevitably drawn more often to fruits and vegetables to inspire my creations. Some mornings the mist seem to meet the garden as everything in England looks grey."

~ Paula Pryke ~

[Paula Pryke OBE: British, top London based florist, founder of Paula Pryke Flower Shop and School; and author of seventeen books.].]

[Quote from: Flowers Every Day (2012) by Paula Pryke. Published by Jacqui Small.]

[Jacket photography by Rachel Whiting.]

[Flowers: Bright pink hyacinths .]

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