Fresh Ingredients Make the Bouquet - Peony Leaves, Euphorbia, Lilacs and Tulips

On a recent rainy morning, motivated by having more work due than I cared to contemplate, I gathered the raw ingredients for several bouquets. The plan was to compose one big bouquet for the opening night of Museo Gallery's fabulous Metal Invitational show, and several small, fragrant arrangements for the house and yoga studio.

Luckily, I had armloads of lilacs, thanks to a neighbor who let me cut from her blossom-heavy shrub along the sidewalk. I bought the parrot tulips, and picked the euphorbia and the last narcissus out of the garden. The dark, dissected peony foliage is from a branch that fortuitously broke off in the rain.

As with any creative endeavor, there's waste involved in bouquet-making - it's always hard to know what you'll really need until you get into any project. As with cooking, you start by assembling an abundance of fresh ingredients to choose from; with flowers this includes an assortment of vases and a pair of sharp clippers...

With this many possibilities to mess around with, I was able to procrastinate on my writing for a pleasant hour or two....It was a challenge to create a bouquet for an art show featuring metal pieces (it's a fabulous show that includes tansu, neon and cool garden cages; use it as an excuse to visit Langley this month).

I figured anything too frilly, light, ephemeral, or fluffy would get lost amidst all the heavy metal...so I chose a big, heavy vase and loaded it up...with the dark peony foliage (from 'Kopper Kettle') around the bottom to play up the tulips and tie all the various colors to the vase.

There were enough raw ingredients left over, a few lilacs and tulips, and all the narcissus (which looked too pale and ephemeral to suit the the beefier bouquet) for a trio of bouquets to scent the house and the yoga studio.

 

Comments

[Karen]

What beautiful arrangements! You make it look so easy! I love the colors in the large metal vase, so rich...I can almost smell the lilacs. Inspiring!

[Chris]

Gorgeous colour...I love that dark, peony, foliage!!