Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Game Changer





Pairings: What is interesting to me is when a flower out of current favor in the design world gets paired with something that is really popular and helps the "lesser" flower get another look.  In this case I'm really responding to lowly blue spiky agapantha with the very popular clematis (about 10 days old & still beautiful). Then the carnation (lots of signs of of a return ) is combined with the a variety of big leafy geranium foliage that is all over these days.

Embrace prejudices and to keep trying to look with open eyes.

And well, I just added this big onion flower and the blue vase because I liked the contrast of the rustic, earthiness of the onion with the elegant blue vase.




Thursday, July 17, 2014

Part 2: Some of the Wedding Flowers












Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Part 1: The Road to Clematis does lead to Ariella Chezar

I had a funny dream last week where I contacted Ariella Chezar and asked her if she needed help on a wedding and she said yes. 




If you’re not familiar with her design work, you're in for a treat:  http://ariellaflowers.com/


Ariella Chezar is one of the finest floral designer/ artists working today. I had never met her as she’s currently living in Massachusetts and has a store in NY City. She’s one of my favorite designers. Her work is blossom luscious. I love her sense of color and touch with tropical flowers which seem hard to pull off without being a suntan cliche.

And I have to pinch my cheeks, because it wasn't a dream. Ariella sometimes offers workshops at Chalk Hill Clematis Farm. When I was there last week (subject of my last post), I Iearned the workshop had been held but that she was returning to the Bay Area to do a wedding and use the Chalk Hill workshop.

Well, dang- how could I not at least ask? Designers don’t always bring their staff!



Being a newcomer, I offered to wash buckets and perform whatever minor floral infractions and miscellaneous tasks that were required. It was just the kind of help Ariella needed and the event was coming up fast. She already had our local designers, Max Gill and Peter St. Lawrence on board to help along with Momo, a designer from the south bay and Lee, Max’s assistant. So with a two days notice, off I went. 
These photos were taken at the Chalk Hill workshop of work in progress and flowers for a photo shoot of her upcoming book. Stay tuned for the finished flowers.









Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Chalk Hill Nursery



Tuesday was hot and clear. I made a trek with my good friend, Carol to the even hotter climes of Sonoma County to visit Chalk Hill Farm  http://chcfarm.com/.  Chalk Hill specializes in growing one flower variety only: the clematis, a viney perenial with lovely star shaped flowers of all shapes and hues. The goal was to make an introductory visit to the farm and bring some home to experiment with. Chalk Hill takes their clematis seriously. When we arrived, we were led into a beautifully designed workshop where the clematis was laid out on a table for our perusal like fine artisional cheeses. Fernando, the keeper of the clematis, kept bringing out more varieties from the cooler and finally let me go in and sift carefully through buckets of exquisite flowers, tendrils tangling and untangling. 

Clematis is not widely available even at the San Francisco Flower Mart.  Chalk Hill has created a welcome niche business as they grow specifically for the floral design business and ship all over the county. Diversification seems key to the survival of any farm. Other offerings are olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a beautiful workshop space and refrigerator to rent, and a book on clematis growing. There is a small rustic/formal garden that we toured and found a shady spot to lunch. It's mass of climbing roses were past their prime, but the clematis were doing just fine and will be flowering into early fall.

I already knew that the evergreen clematis armandii is one tough cookie, but in general they are a new material for me. It seems that clematis flowers are surprisingly long lasting. Delicate, yet tough. Looking forward to working with this new friend.






Store Bought Bouquets Class/ June 28


Well done! Remember to practice and see you in the fall!