The pollinator activity in my garden is in full swing! Check out these busy bees on my lupines yesterday afternoon…they are definitely working for the weekend! Happy Memorial Day!
Archive for May, 2010
Bees are working for the weekend!
Saturday, May 29th, 2010Perfect Peonies
Friday, May 28th, 2010I love peonies. I even love to say the word “peony”. I love when they start to leaf out in the spring and when I am rewarded with a big, beautiful bloom it signifies that summer is officially here! I have got about 15 peony plants of various ages, colors and varieties. I inherited four plants when we bought our house and then added a few select varieties from Cady’s Falls Nursery, I’ve been ”babysitting” a couple for a dear friend who moved them from her grandmother’s garden in Connecticut, and I was gifted several peony roots for my 30th birthday that are growing in really nicely this year. Thanks to this unusually warm weather we’ve been having in Vermont I think this is the earliest I’ve seen my plants blooming. Here are a couple of shots I took this morning of a peony that grown beneath my kitchen window…in quite a bit of shade actually! I can’t think of anything more perfect than a peony in bloom.
Passion Flower In Bloom
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010There is no denying the stunning beauty of the Passion Flower. I got a couple of shots of this beauty in bloom outside of the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge, Mass. this weekend. It is almost otherworldly.
VT Cows on Church Street
Thursday, May 20th, 2010After a delicious breakfast at Penny Cluse Cafe on Sunday morning we took a stroll down Church Street in Burlington to check out these artistic cows for the Cows Come Home-Burlington! Leunig’s, Gardener’s Supply Co, Burlington City Arts, Cabot Cheese & Shelburne Farms were a few names amoung the sponsors on the cows I photographed. There are several more cows than I have included here so be sure to check them out in person and try to pick your favorite!
I didn’t need to look at the artist’s name to know that Katharine Monstream had her hands on this cow! The artists created some beautiful cow-work and it’s hard to pick a favorite…I think I have 3 or 4 that are tied for 1st! Which cow do you like the best?
Lily-of-the-valley
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Lilacs are a huge hit in Vermont in mid-May. Shelburne Museum held it’s annual Lilac Festival over the weekend, but for me, Convallaria Majalis, or lily-of-the-valley, are the true spring treasure. Not only do I love, love, love the fragrance, but I think they are seriously cute and have such a sweetness to them. Lucky for me I have quite a bit of convallaria beneath my office window that are ripe for the picking.
It’s a tough little plant with dainty white bell flowers that thrives in shade and easily spreads through rhizomes that produce tiny shoots known as “pips”…ain’t that cute?
It seems like convallaria has always been a popular and classic-looking wedding bloom. Grace Kelly carried the most adorable posie of lily-of-the-valley along with a prayer book for her April wedding in 1956 and it’s clear to anyone that she was a stunning bride!
While it may be an elegant choice for a bride’s bouquet, it can be pricey to source out-of-season. I have had lily-of-the-valley blooming in my Vermont garden as early as mid-day and start as late as the first week of June if Spring had a slow start. Here are some shots that I took in my garden this morning.
Kristen & Adam’s Wedding at The Lilac Inn
Monday, May 17th, 2010Kristen & Adam are my first super sweet couple of the season. They were married on Saturday at The Lilac Inn in Brandon, Vermont and despite the pending rain not a drop fell on them! The bride wanted a natural, seasonal & gardeny style and loves an eclectic look with a modern-vintage feeling. Lilacs were the inspiration and I had so much fun working on these arrangements. If you love purple and lavender then this wedding is for you…
The bride carried white lilacs, orchids, roses, lisianthus, freesia, hydrangea & thistle.
A bridemaid’s bouquet & small clutch bouquet for the mother of the bride.
Attendants carried hydrangea, lavender freesia, white roses, purple-edged lisianthus & thistle.
The men wore boutonnieres of white spray roses, hypericum berries & thistle.
An eclectic mix of mason jars and milk bottles.
Lilacs, stock, purple anemone, hypericum & thistle with hydrangea leaf for cocktail tables.
The ceremony was in the beautiful gardens which were blooming with lilacs.
Floral swag for fence post at ceremony site.
The reception at the Inn.
Centerpieces included two styles: Floral designs & Pillar candles with a mix of smaller vases.
The bride & groom wrote individual notes to each of their guests inside their place cards! Spruce saplings were displayed as favors and we added a few bundles of lavender.
Congratulations to Kristen and Adam on their beautiful Vermont wedding! You were a lot of fun to work with and it was a pleasure to be a part of your big day!
May Wedding Flowers are Blooming
Thursday, May 13th, 2010The lovely couple I’ve been working with who’ll be married this weekend is going for natural, gardeny, vintage-inspired, yet modern feeling flower designs. The bride loves lilacs in any shade and ’tis the season for lilacs in Vermont!…they’ll also be married at The Lilac Inn so that just makes it even more fitting. The bridesmaids are wearing navy dresses and will be carrying these lavender, white and green bouquets. What do you think?
The bride is carrying white dendrobium orchids, lilacs, freesia, roses, lisianthus, & mini-green hydrangea with thistle accents. The stems will be tied with a band of green silk ribbon.
Wedding Dresses Define Wedding Style
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010Selecting your wedding dress can be a really huge decision. Some brides have been dreaming of their ideal dress for years, while others may have no clue where to start, what style they like or what will look best on their body type. No matter what you spend or what the label inside the dress says, your wedding dress oftentimes defines your wedding style and can help determine what the overall feeling of your wedding day will be.
A bride may feel that she wants a casual wedding, but after she selects a formal gown and sees her groom in a tuxedo those casual ideas might need to step it up a bit. As a florist when I see a bride’s wedding dress it tell me a lot about her overall style and oftentimes helps direct my design recommendations–especially for her bouquet. Elaborate dresses are complimented by less elaborate bouquets while simpler, slip dresses lend themselves to a variety of styles from classic, rounded bouquets to funky woodland-inspired blooms.
If you are just getting started on the dress hunt you should be armed with a few photos of dresses you like, a few (no more than 3!) trusted style advisers and you should have a desired budget in mind and you should do your very best to stick with it. Style Me Pretty has a “Look Book” on their site where you can peruse gorgeous gowns and get a sense of some of the styles out there. My personal guilty pleasure is Say Yes to the Dress…I never seem to tire of watching brides (and their families) search for the *perfect* dress. When she tries on a wedding dress that actually brings tears to her eyes (or her parents’ eyes!!) I am soooo happy to hear the bride say YES to her dress you’d think I was getting a commission on the sale.
Don’t stress over your dress. Try on as many as you need to find a style that looks great on your body. Choose a wedding dress that feels like you. Live happily ever after. Simple!
Mother’s Day is on Sunday!
Friday, May 7th, 2010I have seen so many Mother’s Day advertisements this year that it’s hard to imagine that anyone could forget it, but this Sunday is the day. Whether you are sending an elaborate bouquet of flowers or a simple card, recognizing the great moms out there is always worth your while. I consider myself really lucky to have a super-mom who I can not only depend on, but also look up to (even though she is like 5 inches shorter than me!).
When Dave & I got married I inherited two great mothers-in-law who I love and admire. I also have several friends who are moms now (some twice over!) and it is inspiring to see how much love and dedication they have to share on a daily basis.
Sooooo…much love and respect to all the mothers out there this Sunday and every day! Here is a pic for you of one of the most beautiful and fragrant (and super fragile and expensive!) blooms–the gardenia–a classic Mother’s Day flower!
Alison’s favorite things (vol. 14)
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Harrilu.com makes some of the cutest screenprint tee’s. I truly adore them and think they are one of the best things to come out of Texas! There are some eco-friendly options here and seriously, how cute is this dress? I’ve got a collection of 5 or 6 of Megan’s designs and after checking out her site you may want to start your own little collection, too. Delivery is usually very prompt and the shirts arrive wrapped in tissue & tied with a ribbon which is exactly the way I like to receive presents I buy for myself!
