Week 38
A few small snips of pea tendrils, strawberry, rosemary, thyme, jasmine, oregano, lysimachia, and marigold. Green, scented and fresh, feels a bit like spring rather than the end of September.
Flower Friends / summer
A seasonal get together with other floral designers where we pick from our gardens and forage to make no-fuss arrangements and bouquets on the fly. Somehow I missed spring, but with summer in full swing I asked my sister, Zoe and mom, Lisbeth, both veteran designers if they were up for it again. We had worked on a couple for winter which were so much fun.
Zoe holding a bouquet I made with herbs from my garden and lavender, Shasta daisies and the cutest asters I picked from her's. A true hippie at heart, I found this breezy vintage dress from India at an estate sale a couple of years ago. It looks wonderful with this loose bouquet.
This cafe chair has been beautifully enveloped by some grapevines over the summer. Makes for the perfect spot in the garden to enjoy a glass of wine.
Summer is all about color - look at these mirabelle plums and borage together!
summery bouquet
Made a quick bouquet out of some of my dried bits. With the right ribbon this could even be a cute bridal bouquet. With a lace shift dress, in a wheat field?
rainbows & summer colors
The true essence of summer, flush with juicy colors like watermelon, peach, apricot, cantaloupe, coral, tomato, goldenrod, raspberry and tangerine.
Zinnia are such a happy and cheerful summer flower that come in so many amazing colors. They look great simply arranged in a tomato can.
Summer is all about freshly picked fruit, I've been making these popsicles from Molly Orangette at least once a week. I like to use vanilla yogurt and use less sugar. Make them in the morning and eat them in the afternoon. They taste like heaven.
Yellow
Summer is upon us and a time for breezy arrangements with snips from the fence, garden and side of the road.
This Shungiku (edible chrysanthemum) is so pretty with butter to marigold coloring. Perfect for your vase, salad or stir-fry.
The fennel is just starting to bloom here and I couldn't resist snipping a few stems from the side of the road. The smell is amazing.
Tin Can Arrangements
Making arrangements in tin cans has become one of my favorite things. It's a nice way to recycle, and makes an easy gift of your garden flowers. I make weekly arrangements for my son's preschool class. Using tomato cans is economical, recyclable, and non-breakable if they get knocked over in the classroom. I save the cans that come though my kitchen, I love tomato cans, with or without the label, vintage or new. I also keep my eye out for them (water tight is a must though) at garage sales and thrift stores.
Some more tin can arrangements from last summer. I favored the cans sans label. They look great on a kitchen table, or if you're dining al fresco, you don't have to worry about bringing them back inside or the wind blowing them over and breaking a favorite vase.
Flower Friends, Summer Part Two
For this summer post, Brooke and I were joined by another flower friend, Adrianne Smith an Encinitas based floral designer and artist. Adrianne is always up for something new and three of us had so much fun putting together arrangements and bouquets with flowers from my garden, local zinnia from Sebastopol and the wonderful cutting garden at Valley Flora.
Adrianne and Brooke, such good flower friends.
Flower Friends is an ongoing seasonal series between friends who love and work with flowers. Our spring series with Laura Miller can be seen here (four parts total).
All flowers and styling in this post by Adrianne Smith, Brooke Harrington and Silvanie Farmar Bowers. All photos by Silvanie Farmar Bowers.
Flower Friends, Summer Part One
Brooke and I are back with our Flower Friends for summer. She and I both are inspired by nature and like to keep things as natural as possible and not too fussy. We cut most of the flowers ourselves and used leftovers from Valley Flora that were headed for compost. It was a beautiful evening in Napa and we came upon the best wild camomile that we added to this bouquet. Here in California, summers are golden and dry with the amazing evening light.
We thought this arrangement of flowering cilantro, Queen Anne's lace and feverfew looked pretty amazing just as it was, blowing over in the wind.
Check out some of our spring Flower Friends here.
All florals and styling by Brooke Harrington and Silvanie Farmar Bowers. Photos by Silvanie Farmar Bowers.