Blissful Bank Holidays

There is nothing better than a bank holiday Monday, when you haven't gone away for the weekend. It feels like such a luxury to have an extra cheeky day off to indulge yourself in the kind of things that you wish you could do over a regular weekend but never find the time. Bank holidays are all about having a lie in, drinking copious amounts of tea, reading a book or magazine that you never get a chance to, or spending the time doing the things that make you content.

Myself and my other half are usually trekking over and back to Ireland or up and down to Edinburgh whenever we have a spare day off from the office, usually arriving home last thing in the evening before facing back into a week of work. Having a three day weekend in London means you get all your 'normal' tasks out of the way and still have 'me' time. 

I spent a lovely morning leafing through The Beginner's Guide to Floristry, a book I bought when I started my course to use as an additional source of information. It's a great book for basic techniques and has a wealth of background information on flower care and how to approach working with flowers. Inspired by my mornings reading I decided to head to the local supermarket to buy a few bunches and practise some of my skills that I picked up over the duration of my course. 

With plenty cups of tea, music on the stereo, the back doors thrown open and the sun and fresh air coming into the kitchen, I had a blissful afternoon preparing my flowers and planning how to use them. In the end I made a tall front facing vase arrangement for the willow, lisianthus and chrysanthemum blooms and then put together a small hand-tied bouquet of roses for my fish bowl vase, finishing it off with some ivy from the garden. 

If only all Mondays could be like this!

Long, Tall, Short or Small

Walking around London on a Monday morning the streets are lined with trucks delivering flower arrangements to offices, restaurants, bars and hotels up and down the city. Whether classic or contemporary, large or small, nothing is more welcoming than a beautiful, creative and interesting display of flowers when you walk in to a building or home.

I had my first lesson in tall vase arrangements a few weeks ago, using elegant long stems of willow, aspidistra, snapdragon, eucalyptus and anthirium. The arrangement is a front facing design, perfect for a console table or sideboard. The tricky bit was to ensure it remained balanced and would not fall forward with the weight of the flowers at the front of the display. 

We started with the tall stems of willow to give us our line about 2 times the height of the vase. The snapdragon's were next, followed by the eucalyptus leaves (including some at the back to provide balance). The aspidistra leaves were twisted and folded to form a base layer along the neck of the vase, and the anthirium provided the final focal point at the front of the display.  I love the contemporary shape of the anthirium and the willow together.

Unfortunately our flowers would have been too awkward to carry home on the tube so we re-used our flowers to make a long, low table arrangement. Starting with an oval shaped base, we created our outline using the aspidistra leaves and eucalyptus. Placing the snapdragon at either end aswell as dotting them through the centre is a great way to use colour to draw the eye along the length of the display and set the height. The smooth dome shape was determined by the addition of roses and we finished off by grouping the anthirium at opposite corners for impact. 

Once I got my flowers home I topped up the oasis with water. They lasted over two weeks and looked fab as the gorgeous roses opened up further filling out the space. Would I be able to do it again though, that's the question!

Location, Location, Location

Summer has seen a slew of celebrity weddings including that of Kate Moss, Zara Philips and of course, Prince William and Catherine Middleton. And while the focus is always on the brides dress, I have had a keen eye on the bridal bouquets. 

The three brides had very different bouquets but all were in keeping with the style and setting of their weddings. Catherine's wired shield bouquet of sweet william, lily of the valley, myrtle and hyacinth was perfect in that the tiny flowers echoed the delicate lace of her dress and drew the eye to her tiny waist as she held them in front of her. Given that the wedding was held in the grand Westminster Abbey, florist Shane Connolly made the right decision in keeping Catherine's bouquet understated and simple.

The style of Kate's English countryside wedding which took place in the Cotswolds was reflected in her dainty bouquet of roses, lisianthus and marguerites. The trend for flowers which look they have just bee picked from the garden continues!

As for Zara's bouquet, this was more generous in size that either Kate or Catherine's and contained thistle, cala lilies, singapore orchids and dusty miller. The pale greys and blues of the thistle and dusty miller matched Mike's morning suit and looked gorgeous against Zara's fair colouring and gave a nod to the location of their wedding Scottish Kirk. 

  

Not quite sure which one I would have chosen.....

Best In Show

I was absolutely awestruck at the sheer number of flowers under one roof at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show when I spent the day there a few weeks ago. The Flower Marquee was bigger than a football pitch and had beautiful displays from growers all around the UK.

Agapanthus seemed to be in full bloom everywhere. The Snow Pixie and Moonlight Star were poplar, but one of my favourites was definitely the unusual Black Magic for it's dark aubergine colour.

I never realised there were so many types of Chrysanthemum's - a far cry from what you usually see in the supermarket. The perfect spheres of bright yellow were like giant tennis balls, while other varieties on show included the gorgeous spindly Shamrock Spider, the spiky Delianne (a single bloom looks great simply floating in a fish bowl vase), and the aptly named Froggy.

The Gladioli looked like a fireworks display, with bursts of colour arching out against the pale backdrop of the marquee.

Blues and purples seemed to be the most dominant colours in the stands though, and I was loving the vivid cobalt and royal blue colours of the Delphinums and Larkspurs. Not to mention the spectrum of purples from all of the Lavender - I couldn't help but reach out to touch them and enjoy the scents as I was walking by.

 

 

They say there is a Dahlia for everyone, and I definitely found this to be true as tight round buds, cactus like spikes and romantic soft petals provided a pick and mix assortment for people to choose from.   

 

I could probably go on forever about all of the flowers I saw that day -  the beautiful Naranja Amaryllis (another favourite), the Ladybird Poppy and the Gloriosa all held their heads high above some of the others on display.

But there was one stand in particular that I was just memorised by. The NFU in collaboration with Waitrose put together the most spectacular and imaginative arrangement of British produce - fruit, veg and flowers, to walk away with three awards from the Flower Show. And well deserved too. A picture paints a thousand words, so I'll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves.