SLOW FLOWERS: Week 22
June 2nd, 2013
Joyeux Anniversaire
I created this bouquet as a birthday gift for my friend Carrie Krueger. The soft and feminine
gathering of blooms, paired with a vintage butter-yellow Wedgwood Jasperware trumpet vase, makes a complete package.
Ingredients:
Top view: so sweet~
5 stems hot-pink peonies (variety unknown), harvested from my garden
5 stems late-blooming lilac (Syringa x prestoniae), harvested from my garden
5 stems bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea cyanus), harvested from my garden
3 stems ‘Supergreen’ hybrid tea roses, grown by Peterkort Roses
6 stems each Dusty Miller (Centaurea cineraria) and lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina), grown by Charles Little & Co.
6 stems variegated Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum nutans), grown by Choice Bulb Farms
Vase:
9½ inch tall x 57/8 inch diameter Wedgwood Jasperware trumpet vase
Design 101
Unity and variety: In design theory, “unity” and “variety” are interrelated principles. Unifying features tie a composition together; in this arrangement the silvery-green foliage suggests a sparkly embroidery thread embellishing a shawl. Variety lends interest to a design, eliminating the ordinary. Here, the pleasing mix of ingredients from the cooler side of the color wheel does the trick, with a range of floral hues from pale green and lavender to deep fuchsia and indigo.