Flower Arrangements

Is your first thought "Why is Melanie showing us her toilet bowl"? A few days ago I posted that I was making flower arrangements using cut flowers from my garden. Well, I finally got around to taking some photos of them and one of them is sitting on the top of my toilet.

It's actually quite charming if I do say so myself. Tucked into this tiny vase is a few sprigs of Coreopsis 'Zagreb' (not yet open), Viola 'Bowles Black', Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' and my new favorite addition of Rue.

This large arrangement is in my den, next to my computer where I am sitting right now. For some reason my camera hates this room and I never ever get a good photo taken in here.

The local craft store Michaels was running a sale this week. Two vases for $5. Most of them were small and cheap looking but I found two of these large "jars" and they are nice and heavy.

Although it's hard to see what's in this arrangement, I'll list them all here. Hosta leaves, Baptisia 'Screaming Yellow', my driveway Daisies, spent heads from the Alliums, and grass stalks from Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus'. I love to use grasses as accents in arrangements.

This little arrangement is sitting on my hallway table but I put it outside on my bistro table to photograph. It's so simple and yet might be my favorite of the bunch. Three Hosta leaves, Baptisia 'Screaming Yellow' and Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'.

I made this same arrangement earlier in the week. The Hosta leaves will last for two weeks at least but I had to replace the other material after 5 days. That's fine by me.

Tuesday night my husband was at a fancy affair and brought home the table centerpiece for me. It's just lovely and is sitting on my kitchen table. I don't think I've ever arranged things in a mass like this, I tend to go for loose and informal but I love the way this looks. To be honest though, my friend Kim could do a better job.

This arrangement was made last Sunday with flowers cut in the middle of the day during our heatwave. After 5 days it looked pretty tired and needed to be updated. It was sitting on my youngest daughters night table.

First I pulled out all the plant material. Then I washed the inside of the container and filled it with fresh water. The Hosta leaves as usual were fine and I reused them.

This time I added the blooms from Alchemilla mollis (Ladies mantle), Ferns (don't know the variety), Hakonachloa (Hakone grass) and the hot pink Silene armeria. I had hoped to surprise Emily but she surprised me instead. She came home with no voice and a fever. After a quick trip to the doctor we found out she had a raging sinus infection so I decided that I wouldn't put these blooms back right next to her bed for now.

I belong to a Federated Garden Club and many of the women there are amazing flower arrangers. It's never been a passion of mine, I just manage to scrape by when we have a judged show. Still, after all these years a few tips and rules have rubbed off on me.

This weekend I'll take photos of the mechanics of flower arranging and put together a post giving the tips that I know (it won't be a very long post :-) )

Have a wonderful weekend,

Melanie