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Home Blog The Seasonal Flower Alliance {May 29}
May 29th 2014

The Seasonal Flower Alliance {May 29}

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Floret
Bouquet includes: rose 'Constance Spry', copper beech foliage, columbine, nine bark, sanguisorba, black elderberry foliage, sweet peas, grasses and wild roses.

Bouquet includes: rose ‘Constance Spry’, copper beech foliage, columbine, nine bark, sanguisorba, black elderberry foliage, sweet peas, grasses and wild roses.

Phew, what a week!

It has been an all hands on deck, get er done kind of a week around here. Greenhouses that were in bloom just a handful of days ago are already cleaned out, amended with compost and fertilizer, tilled and replanted with heat loving crops. Turn and burn, that’s our motto.

The field plantings are getting a thourough weeding now and then are being staked up so they don’t topple under the weight of their own foliage in the heavy spring rains.

photo 2-4

Stepping out of the frantic hustle for a brief moment yesterday was exactly what I needed. With clippers in hand, I tromped around the property looking for inspiration and found a little peace in the process.

photo 1-4

There is a huge old English rose bush,‘Constance Spry’ that I dug up from a friends garden a dozen years ago that’s now growing up the side of the studio. It blooms for one glorious week each year and I always try and harvest every single stem, to make the most of our time together.

This year I had to get out the ladder and scurry up onto the roof for the most choice blooms.

photo 2-5

Buried in a tangle of weeds out back I found the last of the ‘Barlow’ columbine and a few rogue field peas. From the hedgerows I clipped ninebark, copper beech, wild roses and black elderberry foliage.

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There’s nothing like having an overgrown garden to cut from. It may not be garden tour worthy but it sure is rewarding to head into the “jungle” with loppers and collect armloads of material to build an arrangement out of.

photo 3-5

I sure love to see what’s blooming in your garden this week.

If you haven’t jumped in on the flower action yet, I’m going to say that now is the perfect time to do so. Even if you just pick a handful of wildflowers from the side of the road, the act of taking a moment to experience what’s blooming in your area, during this brief window of time is a truly magical experience.

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To join in the fun, simply make up a bouquet using local flowers, snap a photo, post it somewhere on the internet and then leave a link to it here in the comments section below. Easy as can be.

If you’re on Instagram, you can use/search the hashtag #seasonalfloweralliance for even more flowery goodness.

26 Comments

  1. Jackson on

    What gorgeous flowers you have…our peonies are done for the year, but they’ve done us proud. We went to market with them this year, and the most striking thing about selling peonies was realizing that we were actually selling a memory – so many customers said “I remember my grandmothers garden…” or “I remember picking these with my mom…” And how many people, whether they bought a bouquet or not, crossed over to our stand, pressed their face into a mass of blooms, and breathed in to take in the delicate scent. That was amazing to see…

    Reply
  2. Elizabeth Harris on

    here in ri we are waiting for roses and peonies and still enjoying the in-between flowers. your constance spry is gorgeous and tempts me to be eager for our buds to fatten up faster. erin, your grace – full – ness is such a gift and it shows in everything you do. thank you!

    Reply
  3. Carol mann on

    Such an opulent offering in true ‘Floret’ style! The arrangement below is quite a contrast. Although there are plenty of flowers in their prime on our farm right now, it was these left-overs of spring that drew my attention. When I planted the lysmachia ‘beaujolais’ last fall, I was not hopeful about its survival. It occupies a damp place in the hoop house which other plants have not tolerated. Fortunately, it seems to like the conditions there quite well!
    https://michael-mann-4x0r.squarespace.com/blog/

    Reply
  4. Designs By Ginny on

    http://instagram.com/p/ohYRksiYov/

    Loving this idea! Here is our entry for the seasonal flower alliance! The rest of them are beautiful! So fun to see all the different designs from all over! We are over taken with snapdragons in South Georgia!

    Reply
  5. Leslie on

    P.s. Yours is gorgeous Erin! Constance Spry is the bad girl that started my garden rose obsession. I love the Memorial Day arrangement too.

    Reply
  6. Leslie on

    http://instagram.com/p/okCT66oCOz/ It was a British friend’s retirement so of course a Mad Hatter Tea was called for. Instagram cut off his top hat but you can see the crazy hydrangeas, roses,ferns, and beaugainillea. Anyone know how to get beaugainillea to last longer?

    Reply
  7. AdrianneMc on

    Things are just coming into bloom here in Illinois. It’s been a late season because of our long, cold winter. But I hope to contribute something soon. Of course it won’t look nearly as lush and beautiful as this but I’m going to give it a try. I’m very excited. How do I upload a photo to your site?

    Reply
  8. Andi on

    http://instagram.com/p/omZUjjgKrJ/
    Erin, your bouquet is beautiful~as always!

    We had a huge downpour yesterday that pretty much destroyed the rest of my peonies! Now, it is on to roses and other foraged goodies from the pasture.

    Reply
  9. Robyn on

    http://instagram.com/p/oeehwIuEz_/

    Just picked on a Memorial Day afternoon walk through our pasture in Oklahoma. No cows here, so the flowers are growing!

    Love this challenge!!!! Thank you!!!!

    Reply
  10. Mel on

    Stunning as always. Roses scare me from an arranging and a growing point of view, lol, but you make me want to grow some they are just so voluptuous.

    Here is my jug full of flowers this week –

    http://mysilverymoon.com/?p=7104

    Reply
  11. Shari on

    Does anyone know where I can buy some of the urns used in these photos? (I’m not a floral professional.)

    Reply
  12. Shari on

    I like how you told us where you picked the various pieces of the arrangement.

    I have trouble sometimes picking my flowers for vases because they look so beautiful in the garden. (My cutting garden is filled with roses.) But it’s important to enjoy the flowers inside, as well. And I’ve found that people are immensely grateful when you bring them a vase of flowers. Simple, but meaningful.

    Reply
  13. Viv on

    Gorgeous,–as always!! Glad you got some “me” time in the jungle! Pace yourself and don’t forget to breathe……

    Reply
  14. Lisa on

    I had fun with it this week. It was just what I needed after a weekend of camping in the rain.

    Here is mine

    Reply
  15. Colie on

    I’ve been making so many bouquets lately for important Life Occurrences (weddings, proms, first communions, proms). It felt wonderful to make this small one for a friend-of-a-friend who scraped herself up falling off of her bike this week. That’s the kind of flower-gift I love the most–one that recognizes the emotional and care-giving impact of a little seasonal gift.

    Here it is: http://instagram.com/p/oju_9ESLgm/

    Reply

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