Holidays in Bloom

Having confessed that I hate gardening, the flip side is I love arranged flowers.

Living in the country has given me an appreciation for vines, berries, branches, and pods that I never would have understood as a city person. Of course, living in New York City, where floral trends originate, gave me an appreciation of how far many blooms travel before they land in the vases on our tables and mantels, especially during the peak holiday decorating season.  For me, Christmas and New Year’s are a wonderful time to spend on big bouquets! One inspiration is the work of naturalistic style Ariella Chezar, an East Coast floral designer and book author whose work here isn’t default Christmas, yet it’s festive and seasonal. The fact that she likes to  combine foraged materials with florist shop blossoms makes it perfect for someone like me who has just begun to appreciate the joys of gathering pine cones from the lawn, tripping over acorns, or finding newly fallen pine branches just outside the back door.

A chippy mantel [top] gets a garland of magnolia leaves and a little wreath of yellow dogwood branches mixed with white tulips in a silver pitcher and green-tinged ranunculus in the tarnished footed cup.

Orange poppies, baby mandarins and inky blue privet feels almost tropical and looks  wonderful with blue and white vases or containers for any b&w fans who have those tucked away.

Below the vase, on the table, birch catkins and dried ivyberries are wound into a garland while fuchsia anemones and fragrant hyacinths provide my favorite fuchsia color that seems to burst out of the glass vase.

Barberry branches and variegated holly mix perfectly with red and yellow parrot tulips. Elegant in a tarnished water pitcher, I also could see these done in red or green holiday-specific containers.

(Source: House and Garden)

You also might like to read I Hate Gardening.