Bouquets, Boutonnieres and Corsages, Oh My!

I am just getting back from the whirlwind tour de California and flower girl duty. The flowers turned out beautifully and much fun was had building the arrangements. We headed to the LA Flower Terminal on Saturday morning and bought two car loads of flowers to play with. That place is like a candy store and definitely is worth the uncivilized hour at which one needs to arrive to get the good flowers. The accent color was a pale yellow so we picked out some beautiful Ranunculus and Peony then used white Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, Stock, Baby's Breath and Queen Anne's Lace to build the body of arrangements.  We brought all the flowers back to the hotel and in the afternoon the bride and bridesmaids got together for some bouquet making. Fun, girly time was had and the work was done before we knew it. Thank you Mrs. K for providing that idea.

From Left: Bride's Bouquet, the Mothers' Corsages and the Groomsmen's Boutonnieres.

Chuppah Flowers

....and then there were more. In addition to doing the flowers for the wedding party, I also did the flowers for the ceremony. Sadly, I do not know what the woody yellow flowers are (Forsythia?) but the white, airy flowers were Queen Anne's Lace and Baby's Breath and the bright yellow flowers at the bottom were Yellow Chrysanthemums. 

To complete my task as Flower Girl, I lined the aisle with White Chrysanthemums and dispersed flower petals along the path. Job Done. Bride satisfied and a great time had. Yay for weddings!

Curious Things

I am off to LA again this weekend so I am posting another picture from a previous trip. I will return with pictures of the wedding flowers and cool landscapes. Happy extended weekend!

I like when...

at work I get to help someone who is really enthusiastic about plants and lets me nerd out a bit. How can that not automatically brighten your day? I also like when I get to do a custom planter with someone, walking through, picking out plants and putting them together and having them enjoy the product. That is a good day.

This is a super easy, sun-loving pot that doesn't need much water, maybe a deep drink every few days. It can also take wind, though you will need to be careful with the taller of the two succulents.

Plants, from left

a. succulent 

b. ornamental grass (Carex 'Amazon Mist')

c. trailing flower (Erodium x variabile 'Bishop's Form')

d. succulent 

Contours!

For the past week or so, and continuing, I have been working on building a contour map for a former professor. I forgot how fun it is to watch as you literally connect the dots and have the land form reveal itself. I know, super nerdy but I am totally into this. I loved making topography models and last year I saw this window display, a topography model of the world, at Bergdorf Goodman and really wanted one for my own. It hasn't happened yet, but someday. Can we say fun with the laser cutter?

...perhaps I could settle for a continent, but which one to choose?

Candle Pot Improved

So I did another candle pot for a friends birthday and it turned out a bit better. Still needs a little tweaking but it's a work in progress.

"Working"

It's been a long week but work yesterday paid me to build my Succulent Center Piece...so cool! I definitely think it could have used a few more plants but it was already getting a little up there in price so alas, the lucky adopter will have to wait a bit for it to mature and fill out.  Just imagine this little guy with some candles in it, I may be forced to make another one all for myself.

Have a great weekend! 

Muir Woods

We went to Muir Woods yesterday, and luckily were safely inside Joe's Taco Lounge when the heavy rains started. The Redwoods were magical and make you feel so small. The Redwood Forest plant community is one of my favorites with these giants (the tallest living things on Earth, Sequoia sempervirens is known to reach 379') constructing a ceiling above and the primordial ferns creating a carpet below, the grove at Muir Woods definitely earns its Cathedral name.

Another Container Planting

So with my friends wedding a little over two weeks away, I have been doing a little brainstorming for cool ideas of bouquets and center pieces. I am not actually doing the center pieces but I have been having fun with the doodles. This was my favorite idea and I am very tempted to actually construct it just for myself.

The idea would be to make a hurricane lamp and succulent arrangement in a low terra cotta (or glazed if you're feeling fancy) pot.

Construction:
1. Taking empty pot, place screen over drainage hole and cover with thin layer of rocks or pebbles.
2. Situate hurricane lamp glass cover in center.
3. Pour layer of potting soil in pot, not necessarily in glass but it is not the end of the world. If using non-succulents, fill pot with potting soil and skip step 4.
4. Pour final soil layer using a 'Cactus Mix' that will allow for good drainage (we don't want to drown our baby succulents do we?). I would also fill the glass with this to a desirable height for the candle. I had thought it would be cool to have it slightly below the rest of the soil line in the pot.
5. Plant around the glass and place candle inside the glass.
6. Light candle and voila!

I imagined this to be a good as a centerpiece or used in a series to illuminate a pathway. If someone tries this, I would love to see pictures. I will hopefully be trying this soon.

From two{A}musing: A Design Doodle

An idea for a Deer Resistant Pallet Fence. I came up with this idea for a (now defunct, boo!) Community Garden Project in Sausalito. Budget was a major issue so recycling and using cheap materials was mandatory. Using shipping pallets as the structure for a fence and alternating it in a zigzag manner with chicken wire, the fence could be constructed rather affordably.  My beloved cousin had a wonderful idea of using pallets as upright planter boxes (two{A}musing) so I adopted the idea to the fence, using a flax (Phormium sp.) for added height and color. At the ground level I thought it would be nice to add Euphorbia, mainly because I'm in love with it (and at some point there will be a report on it) and some succulents. The only thing I haven't quite figured out is deer are pretty good jumpers, so the pallets may actually need to be doubled in height to be effective. Until such time that I actually see this built, I will enjoy my doodles.

By Request: White Plants in White Blocks

My White Sage in the cinder block planter. I hadn't realized how pink the cinder blocks were until I planted the more yellowish sage. I had fun building my little planter and I think it would be super cool to do this on a larger scale at some point, I just need to find a place to do it.

There will be no pictures of this past trip to LA, not that they are not internet appropriate (of course not), it's just there were no outside shots taken.

Happy Friday!

I am off to LA this weekend for a friend's bridal shower and bachelorette party so I thought I would post some fun pictures from my last trip.

May you all have a lovely weekend. See you next week hopefully with some more fun pictures.

Left: Tricycle having fun on the Freeway
Center + Right: LACMA Installations

Making Do

I guess if you don't have too much space, bonzai is always an option. Walking by this house I was so intrigued by their complete mini yard. The moss looked like a lawn and the standard shrub was almost like a grand old tree....that is until you look at the scale of it to the house. Yay for mini yards!

White(ish) Plants

It might sound a bit odd, but I have been in love with white plants lately. I find myself gawking at their lovliness, in particular the bottom right corner, Canary Island White Sage (Sideritis oroteneriffae). I have been thinking that it would be cool to get some of these, mix in some white succulents and using concrete cinder blocks in various stacked forms as the planters. I think this might be truly awesome or one of those ideas that you live and learn. If I try it, I will post some pictures.

Top Left: Unidentified Succulent
Top Right: ARTICHOKE! Not only a super interesting plant but a tasty vegetable to boot. Yum.
Bottom Left: Another unidentified Succulent
Bottom Right: Canary Island White Sage