I am definitely not a traditional florist. In fact, I don’t consider myself a florist at all. I consider my shop a design lab. Ordering flowers from me might seem like a visit to a circus psychic (I ask a lot of questions about the receiver), but I strive to design unique and amazing arrangements that stand out from the regular fare. Twice a week I visit the San Francisco Flower Mart in the wee hours of the morning (before 7am to be exact) to see what interesting things the vendors might be selling. I rarely buy greens, as I think they are an excuse for using less flowers, and I am usually on the prowl for the darkest, sweetest, and most bizarre flowers I can find.
There are several not so hard to find flowers that I really love, and I try to have them on hand when the weather allows. I like Parrot Tulips a lot because they are so striking by themselves in a plain white ceramic vase, but I can’t have them here unless they’re special order because the warm temperature forces them open a lot sooner than I’d like.
I am also a big fan of Wild Phlox because it fills out a bouquet so nicely. It’s always the last bunch of flowers I prepare as the sap is so noxious and sticky that I end up gluing everything together (hair to my face, fingers to my shears, etc.) and it’s an exercise in frustration for me. I don’t wear gloves because I am a very into touch and I feel disconnected from what I am doing if I have them on. Thus, my hands look like they belong to an 80 year old mechanic.
Anyway, I don’t own a floral cooler in the shop so I stick with blooms that have a longer life and are tolerant to warmth. This is probably good for my clients because most people don’t live in floral coolers and once a bouquet is out of the florist’s and in your home, it may be finished much sooner than necessary.
I’ve had some really great finds in the past couple of weeks. I’ve been lucky enough to have gorgeous purple/black Calla Lilies, my very favorite Chocolate Cosmos (they really do smell like cocoa!) and very deep purple Scabiosa. Mixing the dark flowers and putting them into a tarnished silver vase makes an incredibly elegant arrangement.
This week I was fanatic for green flowers. I picked up some very delicate Spider Mums, green roses, tiny little Button Mums and some wonderfully weird long stemmed Lotus Pods. It looks a bit like Alice in Wonderland’s garden in here at the moment.
As part of my ongoing experimentation I decided to mix some green roses with some shocking blue Delphinium and mix in some Eucalyptus branches I had bought. The seeds of the branches remind me of mini Buddha hands so I thought it was sweet. While it’s definitely not a traditional combo, I really like the contrast of color and texture.
The bottom line is that if you love it, then it works. I strongly encourage experimentation when making bouquets. Floral arrangements can be so boring and formulaic and there’s no reason not to mix wildflowers with fig branches or roses with Pomegranates if that’s what you fancy. If ever you want to play with color and texture, drop on by and let’s mix and match in any one of my not so basic containers. I’m happy to help you get inspired.
Melisa
