spring flowers

arrangement of hellebores, clematis, peonies, lilacs and viburnum

i seem to do a post every april featuring peonies, so this is my 2014 contribution.  we're doing a wedding this weekend and our very tiny studio apartment is getting pretty full with loveliness.  sigh -- flower problems.  they're really the only type of problems to have.  should we include more peonies or sweet peas or poppies?  terrible decisions, really.  honestly, if the world stopped to smell the roses, perhaps there would finally be peace.  funny how nature can do that….

for you, Q, photos taken with mamiya 645AFD (i can't justify the expense of a contax 645, hence with a very used model from ebay) and some fuji 400H film.  the results aren't bad either.

arrangement of coral peonies, ranunculus, hellebores and viburnum

bouquet of lilacs, hellebores, ranunculus and viburnum

peonies and lilacs from last year

coral peonies accompanied by purple lilac, spirea, pink hawthorn, pennycress and astrantia

combing through the archives the other day and found these.  i arranged this same time last year.

growing and wedding season is now hitting me at full force, with a wedding in the coming weeks and another trip to massachusetts to plant hellebores, sweet peas, etc.  i now have stuff growing in my parents backyard and this weekend invading pete's parents home too.  we're trying to get a place of our own (now searching for 2+ years), but nothing and more of nothing.

so my family and friends can tell you that i can get single-minded about stuff (i.e., obsessive compulsive, and i'm not ashamed).  i've decided that my next skill is to bake really good cakes.  pete and i have been indulging ourselves in old episodes of the mind of a chef and just finished an episode of christina tosi and her cakes.  and now i'm inspired.  watch out, waistlines of my friends and family!

yay, pink hawthorn!

monthlies

i tend to have flowers around pretty much all the time, sometimes freshly cut, other times not so much (but as any florist would say, even flowers a few days old are still worth hanging onto).  a few of my very loyal customers asked me about doing seasonal arrangements on a monthly basis.  deal is any flower combo my heart desires and any time that works for me.  are you kidding me?  i feel like people are paying me to run around and be a kid all over again (actually, that is what's happening).  so here's the first in the series -- poppies, bleeding hearts, columbines, ranunculus, andromeda and viburnum.