batten down the hatches

bouquet of juliet garden roses, cafe au lait dahlias, golden amaranthus, chocolate cosmos, persimmons,
queen anne's lace, privet berries, umbrella fern and dried wheat

hurricane sandy is coming tonight (supposedly).  no MTA service until the storm is over.  likely, no anything else too:  whole foods, duane reade, the flower market or even walks outside....  we've stocked up on water, food and batteries and, if you're in the area, we hope you've done the same. 

(anna) here's a sneak peek into a project that i've been working on.  i didn't want to leak any of last weekend's images until everything was done; however, editing much higher resolution files on an outdated iMac certainly has its challenges....  i guess new camera = new computer -- yikes!

killing frost

and so it happened... a killing frost fell upon my dahlias last night and now there are none.  so it goes.

i've been quiet this october, only my full-time work and renovating my parents' kitchen to occupy the time.  next weekend pete and i will be in western MA to dig up the dahlia tubers and the annuals.  we plan on seeding the beds with winter rye if it's not too late.  hopefully, the rye will take root before the winter and protect the beds from the cold and windy days to come.  in the spring, we'll till the rye into the soil as green manure.  this is the plan anyways.

our car needs a break so we've stayed put in the city this weekend.  we're on track to rack up 18,000 miles on a 10,000 mile lease -- yikes!  and what do i do when i'm home?  well, i should be cleaning the apartment, paying bills and sorting through the piles of mail that are here, there and everywhere, but instead i made an arrangement or two, took some photos and tinkered in photoshop.  pete joined in the fun too, playing the photographer for some of these pics.

the flowers are cream yves piaget roses, cafe latte roses, poppy pods, cream cafe au lait dahlias, burgundy dahlias (sorry don't know the name), pink astilbe and chocolate geranium leaves.

cafe latte roses, cream yves piaget roses, pink astilbe, cafe au lait dahlias, poppy pods and chocolate geranium leaves

cafe latte roses, cream yves piaget roses, pink astilbe, cafe au lait dahlias, poppy pods and chocolate geranium leaves

fall garden bounty

i'm enjoying the last stretch of dahlias before the frost.

from the garden:

to the vase:

and two of my favorite dahlia "growers":

congrats Anna + T!

today i'm even more speechless than sunday.  i'm so grateful that anna & t gave me complete floral license for their august wedding and that i had the opportunity to work with the super-talented photographer, Maggie Harkov!  Maggie was sweet enough to share some of her wonderful photos.

anna & t are, perhaps, the cutest couple ever.  when they're together, their glowing faces can't help but show their love for each other.  anna is simply gorgeous and t can never stop smiling (so cute)!  when I saw anna holding my bouquet, i audibly gasped -- ask pete.  imo, the bouquet paired with her dress so beautifully and together, they conveyed the vintage, romantic aesthetic that anna wanted.

oh, and i audibly gasped when i first saw maggie's images and i'm sure you will too....

the bride carried a bouquet of garden roses (caramel antique, romantic antique & juliet), cafe au lait dahlias, white astilbe, white snowberries, japanese andromeda, blushing bride protea, hydrangea and jasmine vine.

the bridesmaids carried nosegays of garden roses (maria teresa, juliet & toulousse lautrec), pink sweetpeas, coral ranunculus, touche dahlias, pink astilbe, lady's mantle and jasmine vine.

for the name table, i created a centerpiece filled with white snowberries, white dahlias, tuberoses, more garden roses (caramel antique, romantic antique and ivory garden roses) and loads of passion vine.  

and finally, the reception centerpieces had touche dahlias, maria teresa garden roses, white majolica spray roses, cream lisianthus, billy balls, white snowberries, ranunculus, dusty miller and seeded eucalyptus.  each centerpiece was accompanied by six bud vases filled with several stems of the various blooms.  

LOVE!

thanks again, maggie, for sharing your work with me and my readers!