Vase:
17-inch tall x 7-inch diameter cream urn. This is my go-to vase for last-minute arrangements and it is tall enough to handle the branches, which are nearly three feet long.
From the Farmer
Jump-start spring: Many flowering shrubs and trees are suitable for indoor forcing. In addition to Kerria and quince, you can cut the bare branches of forsythia, witch hazel and numerous fruit trees. Harvest branches when their buds begin to swell, taking care to use proper pruning techniques. Re-cut the stems on a 45-degree angle and place them in a vase of clean water. Over time, the buds will respond to your home’s warmer temperature and begin to flower. Be sure to change the water as you would with any floral arrangement.
SPRING | WEEK 4
CHOCOLATE-AND-VANILLA
WHENEVER I USE Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’ in a floral arrangement, it prompts the inevitable question: “What is that dark fern?”
An ornamental cousin of the herb chervil, Anthriscus is actually a purple-black perennial or biennial that’s inclined to self-sow a little too aggressively in the garden (unless you remember to deadhead the dill-like flowers before they go to seed). As a sultry ingredient that contrasts beautifully with a white vase and white blooms, it’s a favorite of mine.
The distinct leaves do have a fern-like appearance, and they lend a graphic pop to my white-footed dish and the fluffy white flowers from my friend Charlotte Behnke’s Viburnum tinus hedge.
While this design could be top-heavy in such a shallow vessel, it works because I filled the square dish with a loosely formed piece of chicken wire. Shaped like a mushroom cap, the wire can be secured inside the vase with reusable florist clay or floral tape. It acts like a large, malleable flower frog to hold the woody branches and herbaceous stems in place.
Insert the chicken wire so the rounded top emerges a few inches above the rim of the container. Here, I placed the white flowers so they billowed out over the vase’s edge. Next, I draped the dark Anthriscus foliage over each side of the square vase, tips pointing down. Two types of flowering branches give this arrangement some height: White-flowering bridal wreath spirea and dogwood with green button-like flowers. Together, these common garden ingredients make a sophisticated statement in chocolate and vanilla.
Ingredients:
8-11 Viburnum tinus blooms, harvested from Charlotte Behnke’s Seattle garden
6 stems Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, grown by Jello Mold Farm
6 stems bridal wreath spirea (Spiraea cantoniensis ‘Flore Pleno’), grown by Charles Little & Co.
3 stems green dogwood (Cornus sp.), harvested by Oregon Coastal Flowers
Vase:
6-inch square x 3-inch deep white ceramic nut dish (overall height is 8 inches)
Design 101
Elevate for importance: There’s something appealing about lifting a floral arrangement with a footed vase or dish. It’s like giving your bouquet a little stage or platform to help it rise above its environment. This is especially noticeable with an arrangement designed to be viewed on all sides, such as a centerpiece. If you don’t have a footed dish or urn, you can use a cake plate to elevate your flowers!
SPRING | WEEK 5
A FLORAL WELCOME
I RECEIVED THIS GLASS WALL VASE from my friend Jayme Jenkins, who owns an online garden emporium called Aha Modern Living.
“How would you use this?” she wrote, asking me to send her a photo of whatever I created. You may have seen similar pocket-style vessels that have a mounting hole and a flat back for easy hanging against a wall. They are usually planted with ferns or mosses to create a miniature terrarium.
But why couldn’t this glass planting pocket double as a vase? Since my red front door already possessed a large screw for the holiday wreath, the location seemed tailor-made for a vase of spring flowers.
I paired several locally-grown garden hellebores (Helleborus orientalis) with dainty white snowflake flowers (Leucojum aestivum) picked from my garden. In order to corral the stems, I wound a length of curly willow into a loop and inserted it into the vase. Then I cut the hellebores and snowflakes at varying lengths, arranging them in an asymmetrical display so that most of the flowers faced outward – towards anyone arriving on my front doorstep. Notice how the willow holds the stems upright and adds interest to the design.
Spring’s cool outdoor temperatures helped extend the life of this arrangement. My only concern? Reminding the guys in my household to gently open and close the front door!
Ingredients:
10 stems garden hellebores (Helleborus orientalis), grown by Jello Mold Farm
12 stems summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum), harvested from my garden
1 stem curly willow (Salix matsudana ‘Tortuosa’), harvested by Oregon Coastal Flowers
Vase:
9-inch tall x 6-inch wide, teardrop-shaped wall vase (4-inch diameter opening)
Design 101
Just add white: There are some floral designers who abide by the “rule of white,” which calls for adding white flowers to every design. Take a look at this arrangement and you’ll notice that a few white blooms go a long way. The bell-shaped snowflakes are smaller than the plum-colored hellebores, but they add a lot of cheer to the design. Especially when viewed from a distance, white flowers are impactful, making any arrangement young and fresh-looking.
SPRING | WEEK 6
FRESH AND FRAGRANT
SPRINGTIME IS EMBODIED in this vase, isn’t it?
You can almost smell the heady perfume associated with Syringa vulgaris, the common lilac. To me, the fragrance is associated with my lifelong relationship with flowers.
Here, I’ve played seasonal matchmaker, introducing bunches of purple, Oregon-grown lilacs to their lovely companions. Jadeite-green hellebores and fox grape fritillaries (Fritillaria assyriaca) are all that’s needed to create a sublime bouquet for my fireplace mantel. The cream-colored pottery
