Читать книгу Slow Flowers - Debra Prinzing - Страница 12

I RECEIVED THIS GLASS WALL VASE from my friend Jayme Jenkins, who owns an online garden emporium called Aha Modern Living.

“How would you use this?” she wrote, asking me to send her a photo of whatever I created. You may have seen similar pocket-style vessels that have a mounting hole and a flat back for easy hanging against a wall. They are usually planted with ferns or mosses to create a miniature terrarium.

But why couldn’t this glass planting pocket double as a vase? Since my red front door already possessed a large screw for the holiday wreath, the location seemed tailor-made for a vase of spring flowers.

I paired several locally-grown garden hellebores (Helleborus orientalis) with dainty white snowflake flowers (Leucojum aestivum) picked from my garden. In order to corral the stems, I wound a length of curly willow into a loop and inserted it into the vase. Then I cut the hellebores and snowflakes at varying lengths, arranging them in an asymmetrical display so that most of the flowers faced outward – towards anyone arriving on my front doorstep. Notice how the willow holds the stems upright and adds interest to the design.

Spring’s cool outdoor temperatures helped extend the life of this arrangement. My only concern? Reminding the guys in my household to gently open and close the front door!

Ingredients:

10 stems garden hellebores (Helleborus orientalis), grown by Jello Mold Farm

12 stems summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum), harvested from my garden

1 stem curly willow (Salix matsudana ‘Tortuosa’), harvested by Oregon Coastal Flowers

Vase:

9-inch tall x 6-inch wide, teardrop-shaped wall vase (4-inch diameter opening)

Design 101

Just add white: There are some floral designers who abide by the “rule of white,” which calls for adding white flowers to every design. Take a look at this arrangement and you’ll notice that a few white blooms go a long way. The bell-shaped snowflakes are smaller than the plum-colored hellebores, but they add a lot of cheer to the design. Especially when viewed from a distance, white flowers are impactful, making any arrangement young and fresh-looking.