Today's bouquet:
Or should the "Steel Grass" be shorter?My bouquet did not turn out like the instructor's. We were supposed to make a kind of see-through cage out of the "Steel Grass" (Xanthorrhoea johnsonii) by sticking one end of each grass in one side of the container and the other end of each grass into the opposite side of the container. The instructor's looked very cool, like electrons orbiting a Gerbera daisy nucleus:
My attempt did not look like that. It looked seriously lopsided, flat on top, too dense in some places, sparse in others. And, honestly, scanning the room showed the rest of the class didn't do much better on theirs. Admitting defeat, I pulled the wayward electrons and did simple: a sparse mohawk. I know my limits. Give me a week and I'd figure it out. In an hour, nope.
Elements of the project:
Five florist Gerbera daisies
"Steel Grass", aka Xanthorrhoea johnsonii, which I found astonishing--a slow growing plant like Xanthorrhoea used as florist greenery?!!?
Hypericum 'Coco' (the green berries)
"Monte Casino" aka Aster ericoides
Last weeks arrangement still looks decent. The Alstroemerias all opened--that helped a lot.
Out in the garden, I've been cutting back the roses. Looking around...oooh! The not-Tuberose bulbs have begun to flower. Mini Daffs? The flower is just an inch wide:
Leucadendron 'Blush' is getting ready to blush. It's still unembarrassed at the moment:
New plant purchase: Pelargonium 'Caldera Pink'. It looks to be the 'Mystic Spires Blue' for this year (quickly ubiquitous everywhere) because this plant blooms like crazy non-stop. We'll see how it does.
Need to plant a lot of plants yet. Like the Teucrium azureum. Oooh! What's that splash of pink?Some roses didn't get cut back last year because of the knee. This year I was able to easily and pain-freely climb into terraces and do a good job on them.
At least that's something good in 2025. A splash of pink, a last gorgeous 'Yves Piaget' before cutting it back:
Keep your spirits up, in whatever healthy, positive way you can.
I think it's useful to explore different approaches to floral arrangements, and gain new skills in the process. The cage your instructor produced is interesting but, that said, I feel it takes away from the flowers rather than accenting them. I prefer to emphasize the flowers and their foliage companions in arrangements rather than shifting the focus to the structure surrounding them. For example, I think a vase's contents rather than the vase itself are of greater importance.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that you're back to tackling your pruning challenges in the garden with aplomb!
You do have some beautiful vases! Want to trade them for some plastic tubs that used to hold yogurt? ;^) Seriously though, the flowers and foliage are the stars, yes they are.
DeleteIt was an interesting skill to learn, that cage, too bad I didn't learn it. Hahaha!
Kudos for continuing the bouquet learning journey. I quite like both of your bouquets. Flower arranging is all about being creative and imaginative so lots of flexibility and leeway in how they can be designed. Glad to hear the new knee is making life easier.
ReplyDeleteIt's out of my very small comfort zone. Good to try new things!
DeleteNew knee, wow, never thought it would be so good. A good surprise.
These days I seem to read in clumps. It's a busy time of year at the office and at home. Saw your arrangement for last week and thought "pretty colors!," but this week it really came into its own. So there with you on fiddley. Why should I do fiddley when flowers are so beautiful un-fiddled? A vase filled with roses or alstroemerias, or perhaps a magnolia or gardenia floated in a bowl. I ask you, how could that be improved upon? And if the flowers are home grown and smell divine, so much the better. Of the two skill sets, I think you got the better deal. Love your angel pig. I have one too, but I call it my flying pig, as in "when pigs fly ...." Oh! And your tutorial on propagating your agave was excellent. Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteFiddly in the sense of my fingers can't do that stuff. They don't want to.
DeleteGrown at home, I do like those best! It's about time for a bowl of floated Hellebores, too.
I try to arrange Piggie so he stares at me when I'm headed to the kitchen. Encourages a detour away from the chocolate chip cookies.
Happy you found the agave of interest--thanks!
I look forward to your Tuesday arrangements. Your instructor nailed that orb/basket, but I prefer your interior arrangement over hers. Also, agree - I'm not cutting into any of my Xanthorrhoeas! The horror! Lovely 'Yves Piaget' you really have some of the finest roses I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd brought the grass home untouched and fussed with it until I figured out my mistakes and her method. Just for the sake of learning and understanding. It would have taken much more time than we had. I'm surprised about the Xanthorroheas--slow slow growing genus harvested for florist use? Huh?!?!! How do they do that?
DeleteI've grown a whole lot of roses and have winnowed them down over the years and kept the best of the best. 'Yves' is one of those.
Wow, these are amazing blooms and amazing arrangements! In the first arrangement, I like the steel grass both long AND short...I can't pick a favorite. Yes, last week's arrangement does still look lovely, and the outdoor plants and blooms are beautiful, too. :)
ReplyDeleteSome pretty flowers--they bring joy, and we can all use some joy right now.
DeleteYou had a fun arrangement today and I loved the wild looking "sparse mohawk". The blades are so thin and delicate it doesn't interfere but adds to the bouquet. The grass seems to be trimmed by 'Photoshop, so still looking wild at home?
ReplyDeleteLove your plant purchases. Pelargonium 'Caldera Pink' is sweet and the pink flowers look very elegant with the dark green leafs. Seattle nurseries are somewhat bare in early February except for Hellebores... regardless, I pass through when I can, on my walks, for a little plant therapy.
Chavli
Yep, only a Photoshop chop.
DeleteYou can walk to a nursery?!?! You can walk to a nursery. I'd be in serious, serious trouble financially and space-wise. But would get plenty of walks!
It's quite a long walk and any purchase has to be carried home... on foot... :-D
DeleteIt's a good deterrent.
Chavli
I like the tall steel grass in the first picture and your positioning of the other elements is spot on. Hope you're enjoying the classes. I took a few floral design classes and learned a lot, but found them highly stressful. Was always the last one to finish.
ReplyDeleteI'm about the last one to finish. Yes, a bit stressy. I'm trying to learn whatever I'm learning and not worry about what I think I'm supposed to learn.
DeleteThe steelgrass is shoved into a block of Oasis? - that would deter me.
ReplyDeleteI like the effect - I wonder a tallish glass vase - then curve the blades so both ends go down to the bottom of the vase - then you would make good use of the length! A 360 degree arch - rather than a sphere. After you have arranged the contents.
I think you are better at this arranging stuff than I am, that's what I think! :) That sounds pretty and creative.
DeleteI was so surprised to learn Xanthorrhoea is used in the florist trade (and still am).