by tomboesen on June 20, 2010
Everyone hears me talking about minimalism in their floral arrangements and everyone asks me “what the heck” am I talking about. Floral trends, especially for weddings, follow the “less is more” mantra.
If you look at your mother’s or grandmother’s wedding photos you’re going to see lots of babies breath and greenery. If you look at pictures of your friend’s weddings….not so much. When it comes to wedding flowers most brides are going for minimalistic arrangements which means little or no greenery and babies breath. Instead they utilize natural items like stones and only use a six to a dozen flowers and frankly, it looks great.
It’s important to keep this in mind because it can sometimes save you money or allow you to have even more pieces at your wedding. I know I say this time and time again but tradition isn’t so popular anymore. Brides are liking bolder colors, sleeker styles and more creative and original themes. If you like traditional….GREAT! If you don’t….GREAT! Because all that matters is that you like what you have.
by tomboesen on June 14, 2010
There are 168 days until Thanksgiving, so you’d better hurry if you plan on decorating this year. For a cornucopia of color, get your seeds in the ground before June 15, popping in everything you need to stuff that horn in November.
Start by planting two staples of fall décor — miniature gourds and tiny pumpkins. These must-have accents nestle into centerpieces and are easy to grow in our hot, dry summer. Each vine produces enough decorative fruit to make any decorator happy, but because they like to ramble, give them room or train them up a trellis.
…Small to medium sized sunflowers are cheerful in dried arrangements, and keep long into the fall once prepared. Harvest when flowers are partially open, cutting the stem off at the length you want for arranging. Then bundle the sunflowers into groups of three, making sure the heads aren’t touching, tie with twine and hang them upside down in a cool, dark place to dry. The flowers will unfurl as they dry.
Try the pollen-less Pro Cut sunflower series; the orange, yellow peach and bi-color blooms were developed for cut flower use. Johnny’s Selected Seeds has them.
From the Daily Camera: Make your own fall wreath or swag with broomcorn (Sorghum bicolor). The name is misleading — this isn’t corn — but the seed sprays of this sorghum come in bronze, burgundy, black, and cream. Harvest after the seed heads have colored up but before the stalk becomes hard and woody. Cut the stem, then hang the sprays upside down to dry. But if you want them to have a decorative arch once dried, stand them up in a vase for drying.
[Read the full article here...]
Small to medium sized sunflowers are cheerful in dried arrangements, and keep long into the fall once prepared. Harvest when flowers are partially open, cutting the stem off at the length you want for arranging. Then bundle the sunflowers into groups of three, making sure the heads aren’t touching, tie with twine and hang them upside down in a cool, dark place to dry. The flowers will unfurl as they dry.
Try the pollen-less Pro Cut sunflower series; the orange, yellow peach and bi-color blooms were developed for cut flower use. Johnny’s Selected Seeds has them.
Make your own fall wreath or swag with broomcorn (Sorghum bicolor). The name is misleading — this isn’t corn — but the seed sprays of this sorghum come in bronze, burgundy, black, and cream. Harvest after the seed heads have colored up but before the stalk becomes hard and woody. Cut the stem, then hang the sprays upside down to dry. But if you want them to have a decorative arch once dried, stand them up in a vase for drying. Victory seeds has an heirloom mix
