Late Summer Wreath

 Late Summer Wreath

Bow at top with mushroom and pear cluster

Burlap, mushrooms, artificial pears and oranges, mosses, and little birds

Butterflies on the twig garland that I entwined into the wreath

Delicate butterflies and birds decorate the burlap and play on the colors of the fake fruits

Fake birds on moss, twigs, and mushrooms

Fake butterflies flutter around the wreath

A nested couple of birds in the twig garland

The wreath is on the larger side. I may end up adding more twigs or greens to it so that it has a fuller feel when making a summer statement on your front door.

Hanging Around Terrariums

Hanging teardrop terrarium with tillandsia, burlap, and decorative rocks

Hanging teardrop terrarium with tillandsia, burlap, and decorative rocks. Mist periodically, or soak the burlap

Hanging orb terrarium with spanish moss and tillandsia. Just mist periodically or soak the moss.

From Christmas, cacti and succulent pups in clear Christmas orb decorations with decorative rocks. Just pop the top from time to time and mist inside.

I don't typically have luck with more of the enclosed terrarium containers and the typical plants used for them. I like to use tillandsia, because I am comfortable that I can grow it indoors/outdoors successfully, and they take the same conditions as an actual enclosed terrarium so they are the perfect plant, if you are worried about your succulents and cacti getting soggy. Also, if you have had bad luck in the past with enclosed terrariums, using the top glass vessels like the teardrop and the hanging orb that have a large opening (open terrariums) may be easier for you to take care of and be successful with. You may have to mist more, but if you soak it too much, you can just disassemble it more easily than a conventional terrarium, and let everything dry out and start again. Open terrariums are very forgiving, I find, where enclosed ones may not necessarily be.

Sunflower & Thistle

Sunflowers, thistle, bells of Ireland, cymbidium orchid: Garden arrangement for the kitchen

Blue thistle

Perfect sunflowers

Sunflower & Thistle Arrangement

Vibrant Bridal Bouquet

Vibrant Bridal BQ with all sorts of wonderful summer colors 

Gerberas, hydrangea, astible, allium, agapanthus, roses

Another view of the Bridal BQ

Summer Boutonnieres

Alstroemeria, astible, lamb's ear, pink ribbon

Alstroemeria 

Lisianthus, calla lily, ghost fern, lichen

Lisianthus and lamb's ear boutonniere

Aeonium, lisianthus, and lamb's ear boutonniere

Gerberas Bring the Sunlight!

Very easy to make and super colorful - they would look stunning down the center of a long bridal/banquet table

I just love the colors that inspired me! I have all sorts of pops of color and basically the same palette of flowers in each mason jar. But what I really think brings it all together is the same burlap and ribbon cinch on the waists of the mason jars.

It's like the gerberas bring the sunlight to them!

Fuchsia mums, lime green kermit mums, and poppies

Gerberas, mums, poppies & dianthus in mason jars!

Natural Armature

Colorful gerberas, mums, grasses, berries, and ferns

Colorful gerberas and mums in an armature over a bubble bowl

Gerberas, berries, grasses, and ferns

Bright crimson and hot orange gerberas entwined in the armature encircling the arrangement

Getting a really wildflower look here with the ferns and the natural shape of the branch armature. 

I used several different greens such as ferns and grasses first and made a very airy piece, then grounded the arrangement and put in some focus for the audience's eye with the larger spots of color from the massive gerberas

Speed Floral Design

I only had an hour before guests were going to start arriving to our little shindig. My roommate took care of the food and all was on schedule. But I had just gotten home from work and needed to decorate the house for our little "goodbye to our house" party! 

Solution: flowers. I unloaded the cupboard with my vases and just picked a variety of shapes and sizes, and then went outside to my garden and started cutting away at all my hydrangea, succulents, gerberas, and stock. Here are all the arrangements I could make to decorate our house in a little less than one hour:

Matilija poppy (I can't resist using these slightly fragrant blooms since my plant is putting out several of these a week--and it just happens to be my favorite flower too!).

Lamb's ear, lisianthus, poppy, daisy

Purples and whites

Gerbera jar: poppy, gerbera, nutsedge, hypericum

Alstroemeria and bouganvillea cup

Gerbera and dusty miller jar

Pinks and whites

Gerberas and succulent with lily grass

Pinks and succulent

Thistle in apothecary jar

Thistle and chive vase with knotted bear grass

Wildflowers and succulents

I just love the colors and textures in the combination of these plant materials: aeonium, lisianthus, aloe and sage

Color and Texture

I tried to capture all the different hues in the lilies: the dark plum of the swedish ivy, pinkish coral of the heuchera foliage, soft silver white of the lamb's ear...

Color and texture

Top view of vase arrangement

Lily, stock, hydrangea, and stock vase arrangement

Cup of begonias

Angel wing Begonia

Peruvian lily (alstroemeria) and lisianthus

Pastels: Pinks and lavenders

I really suggest trying this! Especially if you are tired of designing or feel like you are lacking inspiration. Sometimes the best way to overcome that is to keep powering through and designing. Doing it this way by being in a time crunch, you really don't have to think about a cohesive design; you just let your hands and creativity go. Then put the arrangements around where you work, hang out, relax, and you will get more ideas and really understand the designs that you came up with while timed. It's a fun exercise! 

Have a great weekend!