Made my weekly pilgrimage to the SF Flower Mart to pick up some fresh blooms for the shop. Each week I am looking for something new, something interesting, and something that inspires me. I absolutely love flowers and I love creating arrangements, but I am nearly obsessed with creating arrangements that no one else would create. I won’t mix roses and baby’s breath for instance. Although it seems to have become a part of our collective floral consciousness, it’s a very tired look in my opinion. Way too textbook. I’m a huge fan of single flower bouquets. The more amazing I feel the flower is, the less I want to combine it with something else. I am madly in love with Chocolate Cosmos and nothing is more classic to me than putting them into a tarnished silver vase or cup:
I also really appreciate the delicate beauty of tulips and feel that the more unique the container, the more they shine:
I happen to be particularly averse to filler. I rarely have fern in my store and if I do, I don’t use it in place of flowers. I may use it in conjunction with flowers, but not in place of. There’s a difference. The “greens” I overwhelmingly use are already part of the flowers. My bouquets are crazy full because there are actually flowers in them! With wildflowers I feel that the greens attached to the bloom are perfect as is. They are usually very fluffy and feathery. Adding any more green to it seems really overdone to me:
I get really frustrated when I see super artsy arrangements that cost a fortune and involve very few actual blooms. It’s a preference definitely, but I can get kind of righteous about it. You won’t find my twirling grass inside a vase to create a submerged origami art project. Although it may seem avant garde, it’s really practiced. It’s not how I roll. I’m always going to lean toward the odd when it comes to flowers.
On the subject of strange and beautiful flowers, I took my friend and client Lara to Flora Grubb Gardens this past weekend to check out weird and unusual plants. We are attempting to finish off the backyard mega-makeover we’ve undertaken. She’s been such a great student, learning to grow her own veggies, replacing the annuals in her planter box and embracing the practice of gifting friends fresh cut flowers from her own backyard.
We happily reveled in the bizarre surroundings and I was especially taken by the succulents growing out of car parts – being the car loving girl that I am! Such a cool, Mad Max sort of idea.
I encourage everyone to visit someplace new this summer to discover the wonderful ways in which nature can inspire and surprise you. I highly recommend Filoli Gardens, Flora Grubb Gardens or the Edgewood Preserve!
All my best,
Melisa
