Dried Wreaths at Passionflower

I always love a wreath in the spring time.....to me it symbolizes the circle of life. Here's one a little bigger than the outspread span of my hand....it has eggs, and feathers, and twigs and moss and a touch of blue hydrangea - oh yeah and a little pussywillow.....

Because pussywillow is the harbinger of spring.

Tulips at Passionflower Design

Did I say I was going to do a blog post everyday? What I meant was, I'm going to do a blog post every day that the weather isn't beautiful and when my apple trees aren't crying out for a little pruning. Which has left things a little thin on the blog......So, despite our amazing weather right now, I'm tearing myself away from my evening prune and leaving you with these fun and simple tulip arrangements that we did last spring.

Enjoy!

La Primavera Returns

Spring is in the air.

I sense a bounty of possibilities.

Ranunculus anyone?

Consider the transformative power of a single bloom.

Edward Cullen sends Valentine's Flowers

I didn't know who he was but I knew I liked the guy who was sending the flowers...He threw down a floral challenge & Passionflower responded.....He wanted something "earthy -non traditional, not necessarily romantic ." He described the recipient as "someone with a lot of style -informed by a thrift store look."......Okay I love the word informed to describe an aesthetic.....

He signed it Edward Cullen.

And he had the budget to let us play.

The hellebore seemed just right.

And then Lindsey told me Edward Cullen is a mythical vampire from the
Twilight books and movies.

Even better......




I think we'll add some ladyslipper orchids and fern curls.

Still trying to decide about grey tulle.

Used a beautiful Green Bohemian wine glass (upper left)-

as a vase.

Adding some local goodies.

It had this musky temperate rainforest thing going.

Andromeda, ladyslipper, hellebore.

All set to go.........and we'll collar it with really crinkled up grey tulle.

Some New Year's Flowers

Here are some flowers I was happy to send out for the New Year. Downright delicious.

Tulips and cabbages and roses with huckleberry branches - and a promise of spring to come.

I'd love to see these at a beautiful winter wedding at Gerlinger Hall on the U of O Campus.

Osage Oranges add Something Special to Flower Arrangements

These big bumpy inedible, green fruits are great for floral design. Long lasting and almost indestructable, we are lucky enough to have a local source though I confess I have never seen one growing. This year the harvest was timed perfectly and they are super beautiful. Here we stacked them in a tall slender vase. The water magnifies them a little. They can have a very modern appeal.

And then they can go all earthy and organic. Here Julianne used them with some angel vine twig as an accent at the base of an orchid.

And here it became the focal point of an arrangement that is all foliage and fruit....

Who says "flowers" always have to have flowers in them?

Deer Fern, Hydrange Foliage, String of Pearls, Osage Oranges, and Lichen make a rich arrangement.

Fall Wedding Flowers at Passionflower Design

Designing with flowers and plants is a big part of every day at Passionflower. I don't show nearly enough of the fabulous floral work that goes out our door. That is because I never think the photos do the flowers justice -ever.... but I guess I'll get over that and just start showing them . I think of the pictures more like records, or ciphers , or memory joggers of a particular floral moment in time.....They are ten thousand times more beautiful in person-

Really had fun with this wedding.....an older couple....they met on a Christian Singles Site. I loved that. Both of them came to the floral consultation. I loved that too. She was wearing a shimmery silver dress. We started to think of the wedding like mixed metals.

The palette was dusty and peachy and silver and coppery and browns.

Metallina Rose, Brown Mini Cymbidium,
Brunia, & Chocolate Eucalyptus.

A Dusty Floral Palette for Your Wedding

One of our favorite weddings the summer of 2009.

Dusty tones and whimsical notes.

And a flighty little corsage to match.

Ribbon Details on a Bridal Bouquet

We had a lovely and talented DIY bride (more posts to follow).....

She scored a lot of good stuff on Etsy.

and had this whimsical -romantic vibe.

The bouquet was beautiful (more posts to follow).
And we wanted the ribbon wrap to be equally as stunning. I always think of the wrap as the haute couture portion of the flowers. It's a detail meant mostly for the wearer.


When she finished making the bouquet, Julianne said, "Let's use buttons on the wrap."

And lucky for us we could pop right over to our neighbor at Pewter Rabbit Antiques and peruse their multiple button jars. 40 cents later and with a lot of fine fingerwork from Julianne.....

She used dupioni silk, grosgrain, and satin ribbon and finished the ends off with plummy brown rayon trimming.

Perfectly imperfect.

All White Wedding Bouquet & Other Favorites

Feast your eyes dear reader upon the amazingly talented floral designer Julianne Harris Who just so happens to grace us with her presence many days a week...........
And has created some amazing wedding bouquets this past few weeks.

Like this modern succulent piece.

Here's a color study in purples

The bride requested stephanotis and we obliged.



Maidenhair (one of Julianne's signatures) and immature grapes that Chris grew add touches of lively green.
But coming up is my all time favorite all white bouquet.

It just slays me in it's elegance. I love the ismene (that's the white cupped flower with the long curling outer petals) which Julianne wisely surmised was available locally only in the very short window that happily coincided with the wedding. It's a lily family and I think I have seen it or a close relative growing wild on the Caribbean beaches of Mexico.

And between the sweet peas and tuberose this bouquet smelled the best - ever.

Zippy Little Boutonnieres

Lindsey is having some fun. And making just the right amount of mess for the project at hand.

Wild Child Wedding

More inspired work from the floral department. Every bride is different. Weddings are a joyous event and the flowers ought to make it more so. Maidenhair fern, moss, and blueberries make this a particularly "Northwest" kind of wedding

Learning

Julianne taught Lindsay how to make corsages - she's using freesia, and ribbon grass, and rooster feathers.